It’s been nearly six months since introduction in the Senate of legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has failed to vote on the bill – even as the FAA’s current authorization expired on Sept. 30.
Congress passed a continuing resolution before the end of the fiscal year to fund the FAA through Dec. 31, but aviation experts warned today that a lapse in the agency’s complete authorization will negatively impact innovation – and ultimately, safety.
“We need new technology, we need enhancements,” Rich Santa, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), said during a House Committee on Transportation’s Aviation Subcommittee hearing today.
“We’re in sustainment and fix-on-fail only,” Santa warned lawmakers. “We have delayed enhancements to our legacy systems, our radar systems, that will impact the future to be able to handle the increased traffic systemwide.”
Many of the experts and lawmakers at today’s hearing warned that the Senate’s failure to pass the FAA reauthorization bill has left the newly confirmed FAA administrator with little to no guidance.
Michael Whitaker, President Biden’s pick to lead FAA, was confirmed to the position in October. Whitaker’s confirmation ended 18 months of acting leaders running the aviation agency.
Whitaker was the deputy administrator at the FAA from 2013 to 2016. He has been widely praised by industry leaders and has three decades of experience in aviation. But he stepped into new job at a difficult time.
The year began with the failure of an FAA computer system that led to the first nationwide halt in air travel since the Sept. 11 attacks, amid a spate of near-miss incidents involving airliners.
Whitaker is also now grappling with a shortage of air traffic controllers, all while operating under a short-term extension of the FAA’s authorizing law, set to expire at the end of the calendar year.
Experts warned that if the Senate does not step up to pass their version of the bill soon, Whitaker will have to deal with constant delays and interruptions.
“If we don’t get an FAA reauthorization bill done, the administrator has to handle all of the disruptions that are handled with continuing resolutions [and] extensions,” Pete Bunce, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, said. “[Whitaker] need[s] the stability and the resources to be able to complete the task of being able to address the issues.”
“We’ve been for far too long without an FAA leader, but also there was a domino effect, so we had many of the positions within the FAA in acting positions,” Bunce said. “That’s now sorted itself out with Mr. Whittaker being in place and the result is we can now move forward on fixing a lot of the issues.”
One aviation expert testifying in front of the panel today pointed out that the FAA bill does more than just deal with high-level funding. It also helps to fund individual airports’ infrastructure – which is now suffering from a lack of permanent funding.
“The House bill increases Federal investment after decades of static authorized funding levels and makes important programmatic changes,” said Paul Bradbury, the director of the Portland International Jetport in Maine for more than 15 years. “The investments will fund improvements from tarmacs to terminals, enhancing safety, modernizing your port facilities in increasing capacity while reducing environmental impacts.”
“We need long term certainty to plan, prepare, and build projects that increase efficiency and enhance safety,” Bradbury added.
The House of Representatives this summer approved a new five-year FAA bill on a strong bipartisan 351-69 vote.
The Senate has lagged behind the House. In June, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee leadership introduced their five-year FAA reauthorization proposal, but three days later Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., suddenly postponed a scheduled committee voting session on the measure.
There has been no evident Senate progress on the legislation since then. Last month, Sen. Cantwell said she hoped to finalize aviation legislation and see it signed into law by the end of the year.
The nearly 800-page bill that passed the House has four sections dedicated to improving aviation technologies and the workforce:
- Improving FAA efficiency and operations: The bill makes targeted changes to the organizational structure of the FAA to improve the overall efficiency of the agency, allow for innovation, and streamline the regulatory process;
- Growing the aviation workforce: This bill addresses workforce challenges by removing barriers to pursuing aviation careers, expanding the aviation workforce pipeline, improving training standards, and more;
- Upholding America’s gold standard in safety: The bill addresses several safety issues, including the recent uptick in runway incursions, to ensure the United States, and the FAA, remain the world’s gold standard in aviation safety; and
- Encouraging aviation innovation: America has been a leader in aviation innovation. Unfortunately, due to bureaucratic hurdles, endless research, and pilot programs that are not leading to the development and incorporation of new technologies, China and other countries are beginning to surpass the United States. The bill encourages the safe yet more efficient testing and integration of new technologies, such as drones and Advanced Air Mobility, into the airspace.
The panel of experts repeatedly praised the House committee for the workforce provisions, noting that the aviation industry is “fatigued” by being understaffed and overworked.
“There are over 1,000 fewer certified professional controllers today than there were a decade ago,” NATCA President Santa said. “The hiring plan produces a negligible improvement over today’s understaffed levels, resulting in a net increase of fewer than 200 air traffic controllers by the year 2032.”
He concluded: “I want to stress the need to avoid an FAA shutdown at the end of this year, that would force the FAA to suspend hiring, close its training academy, and delay modernization even more – which would be a major setback.”
