MINNEAPOLIS -- Twin Cities travelers are feeling the effects of a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.
A dispute between Congressional Democrats and Republicans over air service subsidies to rural airports is at the heart of the standoff.
And now, Congress has left Washington for a recess lasting past Labor Day, leaving Minnesota airports and travelers with some concerns.
Chris and Leticia of Minneapolis are headed to Brazil on the dream trip of a lifetime -- an expensive dream trip.
But they could be among the travelers who get a refund for taxes they paid on airline tickets purchased before the FAA all but shut down last month.
"We invested a large amount of money so it would be nice to have some of that back," says Leticia.
While there is an up-side for some passengers since the FAA currently has no authority to collect ticket taxes, when lawmakers left Washington without resolving a stand-off over the partial shut-down, they left behind confusion and concern.
Air traffic controllers remain on the job and across the country, nearly 4,000 other FAA workers have been furloughed, including 18 in Minnesota who work on airport planning and grants.
Two FAA radar construction projects - one in Coon Rapids and the other in Minneapolis - are now stopped.
And many airports are left wondering whether they'll get the FAA grants they need to start and finish several construction projects. Those ticket taxes not being collected right now help pay for airport improvements.
In Duluth, airport officials are concerned that if the shutdown isn't solved by September, they won't be able to start the next phase of a huge project to build a new terminal. The delay could set them back a year.
In Rochester and Minneapolis, the concern is not immediate, but both have projects planned for the fall that could be in jeopardy if the FAA is still out of business.
"We're talking about safety projects. We're talking about projects that help expand capacity," says Pat Hogan, spokesperson for the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. "So it is going to have a long range impact to airports across the country."
Also affected by the shut down are airports in International Falls, St. Cloud and Brainerd. They are entitled to FAA grant money but can't access it right now.
And perhaps an even bigger concern is the future. The FAA is losing about $200 million each week in ticket taxes and no one knows how that might affect funding for airport projects down the road.
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)