The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announced today it would call a full committee hearing for May 14 titled “FAA Reauthorization One Year Later: Aviation Safety, Air Traffic, and Next Generation Technology.” The bipartisan FAA Reauthorization bill was passed on May 16, 2024. According to a press release, “This hearing will examine both the progress achieved and any delays encountered in implementing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2024.” FAA witnesses are expected to include: Franklin McIntosh, deputy chief operating officer, air traffic organization; Jodi Baker, deputy associate administrator for aviation safety, and Wayne Heibeck, deputy associate administrator for airports.
Of course they are; that’s their job, and I’m glad they are finally getting around to doing it. Too bad it takes such a loss of life to motivate them. I hope they address the orange elephant in the china shop, whose dodgy minions have gutted the FAA and NTSB, but I’m not sanguine. Given the glacial inertia of a properly functioning government, I predict air travel will get worse before it returns to the status quo ante, if ever.
So where is Shawn Duffy with his big announcement about his grand plan to “modernize” the system? Wasn’t that supposed to happen today? Considering that the reauthorization act was passed by Congress before the election and the resultant change of leadership at the top, I suspect that nothing of substance has been done thus far. Maybe Duffy and Ted Cruz should have a beer together and get organized.
The Hill.com is playing the live event now as of 11:30 pacific.
Easy money to spend, Big Beautiful Plans, everything must go and a completely new infrastructure to come…all done by this Saturday.