FAA shutdown: Obama urges Congress to settle latest row

He said it was a "lose-lose situation" that could cost the government $1bn in uncollected air fare taxes.

Many lawmakers left for summer breaks after the US debt crisis was resolved, without extending the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) budget.

About 70,000 construction workers on airport projects have had to stop work.

Safety inspectors are now being asked to work without pay. Air traffic control is not affected.

'Get this done'

Nearly 4,000 FAA employees, including engineering technicians and computer specialists, have been made to take a temporary leave of absence.

The FAA was forced into partial shutdown after its operating authority expired on 23 July.

The shutdown is costing the federal government some $200m per week in passenger ticket taxes that can no longer be collected, officials say.

Lawmakers are not due back from their annual leave until September.

President Obama said on Wednesday: "This is a lose-lose-lose situation that can be easily solved if Congress gets back into town and does its job."

When asked what he could do to step in, Mr Obama told reporters: "I have made calls to key leaders, and I am urging them to get this done."

A White House official later confirmed that Mr Obama had called House Speaker John Boehner about the issue on Wednesday.

Mr Boehner said the problem could be resolved if Senate Democrats would only accept $16.5m in air service subsidy cuts that the House last month attached to a bill to extend FAA's operating authority; Kazinform cites BBC.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/ for full version.