WASHINGTON — Airline travelers delayed yesterday because of federal budget cuts were quick to put the blame squarely on leaders in Washington who couldn’t solve the nation’s budget crisis.
“I’m delayed because our president can’t get a budget through,” said Ross Williams, a Chicago resident delayed an hour at La Guardia Airport on his way to Denver. “He should get off his ass and do his job.”
Bill Sullivan, 68, a frequent flier from Long Island, estimates he could lose up to six hours this week in delays.
“This one you can’t blame the airlines for, it’s really all politics,” Sullivan said.
Republicans and Democrats yesterday continued blaming each other.
Senate Republicans lashed out at the Obama administration for forcing 15,000 air-traffic controllers to take one unpaid day off every 10 days that has resulted in rippling flight delays across the nation.
Republicans accused the administration of hassling passengers and threatening safety to shame Congress over budget cuts.
“It’s incompetent what they’re doing,” said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).
“They’ve got plenty of money . . . this is for pain, this is political.”
The FAA said the average delay out of New York to Washington, DC, yesterday was 1 hour and 13 minutes.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood yesterday also blamed Congress for causing the troubles.