FAA and Regs

The controversial FAA reauthorization bill that includes privatizing the air traffic control system will begin its journey through what is expected to be a tough legislative process Wednesday with a hearing. Four witnesses, including representatives of Airlines 4 America, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the Reason Foundation and NBAA President Ed Bolen will testify. […]

A bill that would cap flight-training benefits for veterans at $20,235 should be scrapped, seven GA advocacy groups told Congress in a letter (PDF) issued today. “This legislation would effectively put flying careers out of reach for many vets,” said Jim Coon, AOPA spokesman for government affairs. “There are great jobs in aviation, and our […]

The FAA today issued a safety alert to airlines around the world, urging them to conduct a “safety risk assessment” regarding the transport of lithium batteries as cargo, in light of new evidence from the agency’s recent lithium-battery-fire tests. The FAA also advised its inspectors to determine whether airlines have adequately assessed the risk of […]

Letter of the Week:The Privatization Trap HR 4441 (ATC privatization) is a bear trap using austerity for bait. Don’t think for a moment that user fees will stay out of private aviation. Think revenue. Functional ADS-B infrastructure provides a precision billing platform to warm any number of Congressional hearts. With growing Part 23 and 25 […]

The FAA is looking at cutting its Contract Weather Observer staffing at 57 airports around the country, moving some duties to local ATC, according to an agency document and various media reports in recent weeks. Trained human weather observers contracted by the FAA supplement automated weather reports at towered airports, providing more discerning information including […]

Two congressmen in favor of privatizing the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization introduced their proposal Wednesday, just after receiving written opposition from others in the House and Senate. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., introduced the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, H.R. 4441 (PDF), […]

The House Appropriations Committee has added its opposition to the nascent debate over privatizing the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO). Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., and other senior members of the committee wrote a letter (PDF) to the House leadership Monday saying air traffic management should remain a government function. “The annual oversight and funding role […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee is strongly opposing a proposal to split the FAA’s air traffic organization (ATO) from the agency. In a pointed letter (PDF) to the leaders of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the appropriations arm says it’s fundamentally opposed to the plan on a number of fronts. “We are writing to express […]

Readers of this blog know—or should know—that I have, from time to time, complained about GA’s tendency to incessantly blame and whine about the government’s poor treatment of the industry. Such diatribes tend to be too pat, lack any creative impulse and are boringly, depressingly predictable. So I try to restrain myself. So when this […]

The debates over user fees and ATC privatization are coming back to the forefront as Congress settles into its second session. The impetus this week came from a piece in Politico by U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican whose district covers Wichita. The proposals are brewing in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as […]