Photo by Bogotron.

Got a flight planned for Friday? Well, it could be a lot more interesting — and we don’t mean because the Transportation Security Administration might be taking a peek at your goolies. The Federal Aviation Administration could face a partial shutdown on Friday, thanks to a congressional impasse over a multibillion-dollar stop gap funding bill, passage of which is normally considered a formality.

So what could happen if the shutdown does indeed happen? We’ll let Ashley Halsey III explain:

Air traffic controllers would remain on the job, but the FAA would not be able to collect ticket tax revenue that support the system and nonessential employees might face furloughs.

“Summer is the busiest travel time of the year,” said former FAA administrator Marion C. Blakey, now president of the Aerospace Industries Association. “No one wants to see the FAA turned upside down, especially now.”

Given that the House and Senate are $25.6 billion apart on a deal, one gets the feeling that may be inevitable. It doesn’t appear as if the shutdown would cause flights to not take off or land, but given the general annoyance involved in flying commercial these days, the absence of 4,000 employees doesn’t sound like fun.