Quartz: The budget sequestration will make US air travel a nightmare. Probably.
Americans without kids, and who aren’t working for the military or the government, may not notice the sequestration—the US government’s March 1 automatic budget cuts to military and social spending—until they go to the airport.
There, if the warnings of government officials hold true, passengers will face long lines and delays thanks to fewer government workers handling air traffic control and security as cuts go into effect in the weeks after the March 1 start date. Critics say the fears are overstated. But the real story here is how unpredictable it can be to cut spending across-the-board without specifying how.
The result is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano telling reporters there will be fewer people manning the x-rays and patting down travelers at security checkpoints, meaning a bigger gap between checking your bag and making it to your gate.
Once you board your plane, the $600 million in cuts that the Federal Aviation Administration faces come into effect. US Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood told Congress that air traffic controllers will have to work fewer days and midnight shifts, that rural air traffic control towers will be closed, and that maintenance on air traffic equipment will be delayed.
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http://qz.com/57022/budget-sequester-will-make-air-travel-a-nightmare-probably
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