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Air Traffic Control Furloughs Cause Delays At Sac. International Airport Sunday Night

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Some airports are starting to see flight delays and the airlines believe more could be on the way. There are fewer air traffic controllers on duty because of budget cuts.

The cuts could have an impact on flights at Sacramento International Airport. There's no question it's been a tough start to the week for people just trying to leave the airport.
There are major hiccups at airports across the country today with delays as 15,000 air traffic controllers begin staggered furloughs.

"It's a disappointment along with other cutbacks all the way around," said Lisa Moody, a traveler. "I feel like it was poor planning on everybody's part."

"It's really impacting everybody, this economy has been in the tank for a while, hopefully we'll see some recovery soon," said Les Simonson, a traveler.

Some flights in New York and Washington were delayed by more than two hours as the FAA kept planes on the ground.

"I travel for a living, so that's a little bit frustrating," said Brittany Mackey, a traveler.

The sequester slashed the FAA's budget by more than $600 million.

"I'm also completely prepared to spend a lot of time at both my connections today depending on what ends up," said Moody. "I'm ready to stay overnight."

Sacramento International Airport isn't experiencing any delays related to the furloughs so far today, but delays out of LAX trickled down to Sacramento on Sunday night, leaving some passengers stranded.

"Then I saw cancelled up on the monitor," said one traveler.

If you are flying soon, you may want to show up at these airports across the country just a little bit earlier than usual. The FAA says the worst case scenario is a delay lasting 3.5 hours.

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