BY VALERIE CHAMPAGNE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Due to air traffic furloughs that are scheduled to take effect on Sunday, federal officials are expecting possible delays of more than three hours in Atlanta, and significant delays in Chicago, Los Angeles and airports around New York, reported Newsday New York.

At a media briefing, transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta said in order to cut the $637 million from the agency’s budget as required by Congress, the furloughs are necessary.

A spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a trade association for the airline industry, disagreed, saying the furloughs are unnecessary and that airlines are considering suing the government.

LaHood, called the spending cuts a “dumb idea,” and said his department has done “everything possible” to find the money.

The furloughs will kick in Sunday and are scheduled to last through Sept. 30 with one furlough day every other week for the FAA’s 47,000 employees, which includes almost 15,000 air traffic controllers.

The maximum delays at Newark Liberty International Airport would be 51 minutes, with averages being estimated at 20 minutes, while John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens would have maximum delays of 50 minutes and averages of 12 minutes.

LaGuardia Airport tops the list in New York area airports with, maximum delays estimated at 80 minutes, and averages estimated at 30 minutes.

Airports in Florida, North Carolina, California, Illinois and Pennsylvania are expected to have significant delays as well.

Jean Medina, a spokeswoman for the airline association said the industry believes “the FAA has discretion to implement cuts without furloughing air traffic controllers.”

LaHood said airports around the country have been receiving briefings on what to expect and have all of the information the FAA has on how the furloughs will affect air traffic operations.