Lawmakers: Outages, Crashes Underscore FAA Bill Urgency
How the government is tackling widespread safety concerns.
A year after Congress passed its massive 1,300-page FAA reauthorization bill, the agency has checked off numerous key requirements—from shortening the aircraft registration time and stepping up hiring of controllers to updating airport guidance. However, implementation of the bill has become even more urgent, lawmakers maintain, as the FAA faces continuing and growing issues stemming from workforce constraints, ATC and communications outages, and safety concerns surrounding the series of recent high-profile fatal accidents.
“While the FAA is making some progress in implementing the law, recent tragic aviation accidents and close calls make clear that the administration must prioritize the critical safety reforms included in the reauthorization,” said Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Washington), the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, during a hearing on FAA reauthorization implementation. “The immense loss that occurred from the tragic mid-air collision at Washington National Airport (KDCA) highlights the need for the FAA and Congress to recommit to enhancing the safety of the National Airspace System (NAS) and restoring the flying public’s confidence in that system.”
He pointed to fatal crashes in Alaska, Philadelphia, and Arizona as well, and noted other incidents and accidents such as the air tour helicopter crashing into the Hudson River, other loss-of-separation events at KDCA, equipment failures involving the New York region, and notam system outages.
“The American people are justifiably outraged and demand the FAA do more to make our system safer and more reliable, and we want to help,” he said. “One of the most immediate and effective long-term solutions the FAA can do right now to make our system safer is to swiftly implement the 2024 FAA reauthorization law.”
These mandates range from modernizing the FAA’s staffing models to establishing a Runway Safety Council and auditing ATC systems. In addition, the FAA should consider other policies that were not included in the law, and he said while he has not yet seen the budget proposal for modernization, he believes the Department of Transportation’s push to upgrade facilities, systems, and equipment “is a very positive step forward.” The committee is planning to collaborate on legislation to meet modernization goals.
He noted the bipartisan support that the reauthorization bill garnered—more than 387 members in the House and 88 Senators voted in favor—as well as the backing from more than 1,000 aviation organizations and companies. “Not many pieces of legislation enjoy such wide bipartisan support.”
He also pointed to the breadth of the bill, including reforms to address close calls, a workforce title, a general aviation title, Airport Improvement Program increases with streamlined environmental permitting, and provisions surrounding advanced air mobility, among many others.
“The FAA has made significant progress in implementing the act’s several hundred requirements during the past year,” Jodi Baker, deputy associate administrator of aviation safety at the FAA, reported to the committee.
Baker highlighted several of those initiatives: “So far, we have reduced the aircraft registration backlog, and applications are now processed within an average of 10 business days or less. We also shortened the timeframe for determining acceptance or rejection of air carrier, air operator, and air agency certificate applications. We have improved the guidance that our inspector workforce uses while planning for production approval holder inspections.”
She also noted efforts to improve safety data analysis, including incorporating advanced tools to ease processing and better identify trends from the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing System. The agency has further focused on advanced air mobility, including announcing that the Texas A&M University system will operate a Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies to help integrate new technologies into the NAS.
“The FAA is ready for powered lift, the first brand-new category of civil aircraft in almost a century,” she maintained, pointing to the release of the special federal aviation regulation late last year on powered lift instructor and pilot certification, pilot training, and operating rules.
On the ATC modernization front, Baker stressed that this is an administration priority, noting the plan rolled out last week to replace core infrastructure, including radar, software, hardware, telecommunications networks, and facilities. “The FAA has already accelerated the modernization of the [notam] system. We expect delivery by July of 2025 and are targeting deployment by September of 2025.”
In addition, she said the agency is “laser-focused” on controller and aviation inspector hiring and is updating staffing targets to reflect recent negotiated levels with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. On that front, the agency has begun to offer incentives not only to grow the controller pipeline but also to retain those already in the system, and is using “spot-hiring authority” for experienced military controllers. Direct hiring is also in place for aviation inspector hiring, Baker added.
Other efforts involve updated airport improvement plan guidance and vertiport guidance, along with an effort to assist the transition to fluorine-free firefighting foam.
As for runway incidents, the agency has added Surface Awareness Initiative technologies and procedures at 18 sites, with more than 30 additional sites planned to go operational by 2025. “We are rolling out new enhanced safety technology at more than 70 airports.”