It could get very quiet around Lexington Park, Maryland on Fridays this year if the Navy approves a plan to suspend operations one day a week at Naval Air Station Patuxent River for furloughs. Congress is considering bills this week that could alleviate some or all of the furloughs being imposed on the defense department’s civilian workers by automatic cuts known as “sequestration.” However, if Congress fails to pass a bill or passes one that doesn’t contain any extra funding for the Pentagon, Navy leaders must figure out how to do business four days a week. According to Garry Newton, Deputy Commander of Naval Air Systems Command, NAVAIR is currently planning to do this by suspending all operations on Fridays. NAVAIR and its subsidiary, the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), are two of Pax River’s biggest tenants, accounting for the lion’s share of activity on the base. “We are looking at a standard Monday to Thursday work week,” Mr. Newton said, while taking questions from contractors at a Small Business Industry Day event held at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center by the NAVAIR Office of Small Business Programs. Mr. Newton stressed that NAVAIR’s leadership has not finished [...]
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