Letter Groups United In Their Support Of The Measure
Several aviation groups representing interests from GA to airlines are praising the passage Tuesday of the FAA Reauthorization Bill in the U.S. Senate on a 95-3 vote.
GAMA focused on general aviation topics in a statement released to the media shortly after the bill's passage. GAMA said the bill’s certification and other reforms will enable general aviation manufacturers and maintenance, repair, and overhaul centers to get innovative, safety-enhancing technologies to market more efficiently, improve safety in U.S. skies, support job growth, facilitate exports, and bolster the health of general aviation companies. The measure also ensures that the FAA can better focus resources and management on key risk-derived safety issues and new technologies.
In addition, the legislation will enable further progress on NextGen, provide Congressional direction on integrating Unmanned Aerial Systems and commercial space transportation safely into the National Airspace System, and provide continued support for a transition to unleaded aviation gasoline.
“We are extremely pleased that the Senate passed this historic FAA authorization bill, which will improve aviation safety, make better use of FAA and industry resources, and bolster manufacturing competitiveness,” GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. “We especially appreciate the bipartisan leadership of Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL), Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in shepherding this legislation through the Senate.
“Throughout the Congress, there is widespread agreement on the need to advance certification reform, which this bill does,” Bunce continued. “With the current temporary extension of the FAA set to expire in just a few months, it is time for the U.S. House of Representatives to also move forward in a bipartisan way to address certification reform, providing general aviation manufacturers, their customers, and the entire aviation community greater certainty moving forward.”
“ALPA commends Sen. John Thune and Sen. Bill Nelson for their bipartisan leadership in advancing a strong FAA reauthorization that sets the stage for enhancing the safety of air transportation in the United States,” said Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA’s president. “We are pleased with the reauthorization’s clear focus on safety as evidenced by the fact that it maintains current safety-based first officer qualification and training regulations.”
The current first officer qualification and training requirements were prompted by Congress following investigations of multiple fatal airline accidents in which the pilots’ lack of flight experience and training were factors. There has not been a fatal commercial aircraft accident attributed to inadequate pilot qualifications or training since the regulations took effect.
“We are also encouraged that the Senate FAA reauthorization mandates full harmonization of domestic regulations for shipping lithium batteries by air with new international safety standards,” said Capt. Canoll.
Lithium batteries pose a significant safety threat to air transportation because they can self-ignite and the fire they create cannot be extinguished by standard fire suppression systems. The Senate FAA reauthorization requires full harmonization of U.S. regulations with those in effect internationally, achieving one element in ALPA’s determined effort to safely transport lithium batteries by air.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) technical instructions temporarily ban all lithium batteries from being carried as cargo on passenger aircraft until appropriate shipping standards are developed. Further, all lithium-ion batteries carried on all-cargo flights are limited to a maximum 30 percent charge, and the instructions prohibit “overpacks,” a loophole whereby an unlimited number of packages of batteries could be shipped together in the same box to circumvent dangerous goods regulations.
“We will continue to work with Congress and the international community to develop appropriate shipping protocols so that a fire caused by the unsafe shipment of lithium batteries will never again bring down an aircraft,” continued Capt. Canoll.
The Senate FAA reauthorization also takes aviation security a significant step forward by mandating physically installed secondary batteries on all new commercial passenger aircraft. “Secondary cockpit barriers are a common-sense solution to enhance aviation security,” said Capt. Canoll. “ALPA thanks Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) for leading the effort to require these cost-effective barriers to protect the flight deck when the hardened cockpit door is opened.”
ALPA also supported an amendment introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to require science-based fatigue regulations for all-cargo operations and is disappointed the amendment was not adopted. “While the Senate FAA reauthorization is a positive step, ALPA is concerned that the measure does not call for science-based fatigue regulations for pilots who fly cargo,” concluded Capt. Canoll.
"On behalf of NBAA's more than 10,000 member companies, we applaud this bipartisan step toward implementing a smart, targeted approach to funding the FAA’s efforts to modernize what is already the world's safest ATC system, without going down the dangerous path of turning our ATC system over to a private board," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen.
"Specifically, we thank Commerce Committee Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson and other Senate lawmakers, who played a leadership role in seeing this vital legislation introduced and approved. We will continue working to get these important advancements promptly passed into law.”
“After two years of hearings and debate, the Senate has reached a consensus on how to move forward with legislation to reauthorize the FAA, which can continue building on efforts to bring new technologies to market and make NextGen a reality,” Bolen continued. “Now that the Senate has achieved this consensus, it is time to move forward on the legislation and make it law.”
Bolen urged the general aviation community to continue to use NBAA's online Contact Congress resource to reach out to elected officials, to support the continued advancement of the Senate FAA reauthorization bill.
"NATA thanks the Senate for taking up and approving this bipartisan FAA reauthorization bill. Passage of this legislation is the result of the hard work of Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY), Minority Leader Reid (D-NV) and Commerce Committee Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson and their staffs.
The legislation embraces NATA's belief that Congress should build upon its previous work and continue to improve the consistency of FAA decisions across its offices and regions, streamline the FAA certification process to better reflect today's pace of innovation, and assist the agency in operating as efficiently as possible. We hope this legislation will serve as the impetus for the House to cease efforts to create an air traffic control corporation and instead move ahead with other provisions of the House committee-passed legislation that strongly resemble the bill approved today by the Senate."
“The Senate’s overwhelmingly bipartisan leadership and approval of this bill sends a clear message on a vision that includes a vibrant general aviation community,” said EAA CEO/Chairman Jack J. Pelton. “We thank all the senators who worked hard to include these important GA measures in the bill, such as the aeromedical reform that was part of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2.”
In addition, the Senate version of FAA reauthorization does not contain any language in support of ATC privatization or GA user fees. Among the several provisions that support general aviation are:
- Aeromedical reform language that was included in the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 passed by the Senate in December
- Direction to the FAA on completing its mandated revisions to FAR Part 23 rules on aircraft certification and airworthiness standards
- FAA authority to conduct fleet-wide authorization to implement the use of a future unleaded aviation fuel under the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI), a program that EAA helped develop and now plays a leadership role
- Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced an EAA-developed amendment that would guarantee that the active construction, restoration, or repair of a personal-use aircraft is a protected aeronautical activity in airport hangars under FAA grant assurances
- Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced a requirement that FAA provide ATC and safety support to aviation events without fees, taxes or other charges
- Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced an amendment that extends the registration period for noncommercial general aviation aircraft to five years
The measure now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. The legislation would authorize spending for the FAA and its programs through September 2017.
“We urge the House to adopt this measure in the same collaborative and bipartisan manner that the Senate exhibited, as it is important to implement FAA reauthorization and avoid the long series of continuing resolutions that we’ve seen in previous years,” Pelton said. “This legislation sets a positive path forward for the world’s best aviation system that serves our entire nation and allows us to pursue our individual freedom of flight.”
(Source: News releases)
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