Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: Air-traffic furloughs unavoidable WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he would have no choice but to cut back on air-traffic staffing in the event the sequestration takes effect. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, LaHood discounted the notion there were other areas of the Federal Aviation Administration budget that could be cut without impacting air travel. "The largest number of employees at DOT is at FAA, of which the largest number are FAA controllers," said LaHood. We are going to try and cut as much as we possibly can out of contracts and other things that we do. But in the end, there has to be some kind of furlough of air traffic control. The sequestration includes mandatory spending cuts and tax hikes that will take effect March 1 unless Congress and the Obama administration agree on a budget proposal. The FAA alone faces $600 million in immediate cuts. LaHood this week warned airlines this week that furloughs would reduce air-traffic control staffing and other FAA services, and would lead to significant slow-downs at major airports. The warning stirred up speculation the Obama administration was using scare tactics to pressure congressional Republicans..LaHood told CNN, however, there was no way to dodge the requirements of making billions of dollars worth of budget cuts on short notice. "This sequester is very serious business, and it requires us to make the reductions that we're making," La?Hood said. It requires us, as painful as it is, to furlough the people that we're going to have to furlough. And we're taking it very seriously.