On July 1, 2023, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. Stephanie Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Washington CNN What is at stake is whether Congress passes a bill of more than 1,000 pages to guide aviation policy in the next five years. It includes a plan to fill the shortage of 3000 air traffic controllers, prevent planes from colliding on the runway, and formulate an airline refund policy.
The bill is negotiated by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and needs to be passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives before being submitted to the President and becoming law. Since the text was published last week, senators have proposed their own amendments-some related and some completely irrelevant. As we all know, the reauthorization of the FAA is probably one of the last opportunities to pass major legislation in this election year.
Here are some questions to consider this week:
Raise the retirement age of pilots
One of the most controversial issues in the FAA debate this year is whether to raise the mandatory retirement age of airline pilots from 65 to 67.
According to the airline group, this will alleviate the pressure of pilot shortage, which began with the wave of buyout and early retirement when airlines drastically cut wages during the epidemic. More retirees are coming soon: according to the data of the regional airline association, half of the pilots will reach compulsory retirement in the next 15 years.
However, the pilots' union strongly opposes that there is no data to prove that this growth is safe, and claims that it will bring confusion to the airline's qualification system. Pilots approaching retirement age often fly wide-body jets on international routes and land in countries with retirement age of 65. The trade union believes that if the United States raises the age and other countries do not, these pilots will not be eligible to land overseas, and retraining them for small aircraft on domestic routes will take up the training time of young pilots.
The FAA bill passed by the House of Representatives last year included provisions to raise the retirement age, but negotiators removed it from the compromise legislation. Several senators have proposed amendments to increase this clause, and another amendment will guide the FAA to encourage other countries to raise the retirement age as well-to solve the qualification problem.
More flights from DCA
At the end of the work week, members' cars lined up in DC, urging them to go to the nearby airport to fly home. The most convenient is Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which can reach Virginia within a short drive. The other two airports in the area-Dulles International Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Airport-are at least 40 minutes' drive from downtown DC.
But a perimeter rule decades ago limited flights from Reagan International Airport to a radius of DC 1250 miles. This means that lawmakers in Minneapolis, Oklahoma City and western Dallas have to catch a plane at one of the other two airports. Over the years, Reagan International Airport has added some exceptions, such as direct flights to Salt Lake City and Seattle. )
The compromise bill will allow five more flights in and out of Reagan National Airport every day, which is much less than some people want.
The Airport Authority, which operates Reagan International Airport and Dulles International Airport, said that the main runway of Reagan Airport is the busiest in the country and has been running at full capacity. It said that lawmakers' proposal to add extra flights would increase congestion. Senators in the DC area proposed to block any additional flights.
Senator Li Zhengying, a Republican from Utah, drafted a proposal to increase the number of flights by 56, limiting it to eight flights per hour.
Passenger protection
In April this year, the US Department of Transportation finalized a new regulation on airline refunds: refunds will be paid in cash (instead of vouchers) within a few days, and will be refunded automatically. This means that when your flight is cancelled or seriously delayed, you don't need to call the airline to complain.
The compromise bill originally proposed by the FAA failed to meet the new DOT rule, which increased the possibility that the DOT leadership would cancel the automatic refund rule in the future. After an uproar—including an alliance between Senator Josh Holly, Republican of Missouri, and Senator elizabeth warren, Democrat of Massachusetts—the negotiators of the bill returned to the drawing board and added automatic components to the bill. According to the new regulations, if passengers refuse the airline's request for re-booking, or fail to respond to the request, the airline must automatically refund.
Another proposal is to change the rules on how to refund flights booked through travel agencies. Travel agencies are worried that the current regulations will make small businesses face refunds without reimbursement by airlines.
April 7, 2024, la guardia airport, new york. Angus Modent/Bloomberg/Getty Pictures protects drones The NFL and Major League Baseball may also get something from the FAA bill: freedom from drone attacks. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan's proposal would give the Department of Homeland Security more power to detect and shoot down problematic drones. When Peters and his colleagues announced the bill last year, the NFL said it would protect football matches "from the serious and rising security risks brought by rogue drones."
This is becoming a problem in sports leagues. For example, earlier this year, a man was accused of illegally flying a drone over the Baltimore Ravens game, after officials were forced to stop the action on the court.
Another no-fly list
The notorious no-fly list prohibits suspected terrorists from flying on commercial aircraft. Some lawmakers want another list of passengers who attacked the crew or tried to break into the cockpit. Passengers listed after fines or convictions "will be banned from boarding any commercial flights."
During the epidemic, when the anger in flight soared, many airlines put passengers on the internal no-fly list-but federal rules prohibit airlines from sharing names with each other. Major flight attendants' unions and some airlines said that the system allows prohibited passengers to simply transfer to another airline.
Changes in travel experience
The American experience at the airport will also change.
One amendment calls for more electric car chargers at airports, and another amendment will prevent the FAA from implementing its plan to deal with climate change.
A privacy proposal that restricts the use and sharing of biometric data by the Transportation Security Administration has caused travel groups to warn long queues. According to these organizations, the seamless experience of using passengers' faces to check in, put down luggage, go through security check and enter the boarding gate is becoming more and more popular with passengers, and passengers can choose to quit. But Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, behind the proposal, said the restrictions were necessary to prevent "full state surveillance."
There are also several proposals that will prohibit airport security checks and airlines from accepting passengers whose only identification is documents issued by the US government to illegal immigrants and asylum seekers.
Titanium, Internet and Milk
These proposals have nothing to do with aviation. But this is what lawmakers are trying to pass their own priorities before lawmakers turn their attention more fully to the November election.
These proposals include raising tariffs on some imported sponge titanium, which supporters say will ease titanium production in the United States. Another proposal will clear the way for local groups to clean up abandoned hard rock mines. There is also an amendment that will classify animal technology and animal food substances as additives, not drugs. An Internet access project that extends the lifeline to rural and low-income Americans may be restarted. If the proposal to change the school lunch rules is passed, whole milk may return to the menu.
UFO
Most of the amendments to the FAA Act involve flying objects leaving and returning to Earth.
But the sponsor of a proposal wants to know what else is in the sky. It asked for a report on UFOs.
Specifically, this is a "non-confidential report on the event that commercial pilots found or otherwise witnessed unknown objects in flight, and explained whether the encounter with unknown objects in the air ever disturbed, interfered or affected flight instruments."