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Administrator Slams USA Today Editorial In an unusually acerbic letter published in Friday’s USA Today, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey claims that the near-perfect airline safety record of the past four years (several fatal commuter-line crashes don’t appear to count in either Blakey’s or USA Today’s reckoning) is the result of the “enormous effort and singular […]

As part of an overall funding bill covering Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Senate/House conference committee that put together the final document urged the FAA to get cracking on replacing outdated air traffic control displays at Chicago, Denver, St. Louis and Minneapolis. According to Government Computer News, the bill contains $20 million for […]

While the White House was trying to cut FAA spending (perhaps the source of much of this year’s funding angst at the agency), the House of Representatives is apparently not thinking that way. Last week, the House approved $14.3 billion for the FAA’s 2006 budget, $235 million more than last year and a full $1 […]

NBAA Says Changes Will Be Harmful As if proving that tax money deployed in one sector must be clawed away from another, provisions of a Senate version of a funding bill that could soon be passed could have a major impact on business aviation operations, according to the National Business Aviation Association. In a “call […]

Meanwhile, the president is expected to sign a bill that includes $5 million in compensation for Potomac Airfield, College Park and Washington Executive-Hyde Field and businesses operating at them to help cover losses incurred immediately after 9/11. The airports, which are within the 15-mile Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) around Washington, were closed for about six […]

Wartofsky, who has been a vocal and passionate spokesman on the security measures that have been imposed on his facility and the Washington area in general, said the closure of his airport cleared the way for a broader discussion of the security issues in the capital area. Although he said he couldn’t discuss specifics, Wartofsky […]

Potomac Airfield To Reopen? The owner of Potomac Airfield says he hopes the airport will be reopened within two weeks after being closed for a month by the Transportation Security Administration. Owner David Wartofsky said the closure resulted from allegations that the required ground security wasn’t in place. That prompted a visit from TSA inspectors […]

The GAO also took a look at the FAA’s safety oversight system and, while it had to acknowledge the extraordinary safety record of U.S. commercial air operations, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a little tweaking. For instance, the GAO thinks the FAA spends too much time doing “traditional inspections” of airlines and not […]

You could forgive the FAA for being confused on the outsourcing issue. While the GAO seems to be encouraging it, the other government watchdog that monitors the agency was sending a different message. Ken Mead, the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General, testified before the Senate Transportation Committee that more and more airline maintenance is being […]

The Road To “Sound Financial Management” The Government Accountability Office is suggesting the FAA back away from rejigging its core funding mechanisms and, instead, concentrate on making do with less. And contracting out heads the list of ways the FAA could get its financial house in order while coping with major funding, technology and human […]