SAN FRANCISCO: Passengers at San Francisco International Airport saw the beginning of what could become commonplace at airports across the United States on Sunday evening as air traffic controllers in many airports were cut due to budget reductions. It is part of government spending reductions and delays were long for many passengers on the first day of staffing cuts. The Federal Aviation administration said on its website late Sunday that cuts were causing delays averaging more than three hours for flights arriving to Los Angeles International Airport. The agency did not say how many flights were affected. SFO Airport spokesman Marshall Lowe says about 70 flights had delays of about an hour or more Sunday, but could not say the role staffing played. Passengers in San Francisco were also delayed due to the cuts according to Delta Airlines. Delays were expected to get worse later on Monday. Budget cuts that kicked in last month forced the FAA to give controllers extra days off. The agency said planes will have to take off and land less frequently to avoid overloading the remaining controllers. BN
