Says Congress Using Passenger Rights Provisions To Support A $44 Billion Boondoggle

The advocacy group Our Airspace is calling for essential policy changes it says are needed to protect passenger safety and flyers rights to be raised immediately as stand alone legislation, not "buried" in an FAA reauthorization bill.

"Rather than passing much needed stand-alone legislation immediately, Congress chose to embed some critical passenger rights and safety provisions in a massive spending bill which increases discretionary spending by 44 billion to the FAA, an agency plagued by mismanagement, cost overruns, and failing to deliver on safety," the group said in a news release.

The Senate bill (S1451), and it's House counterpart (H.R. 915 -passed 277-136) constitute a large funding increase for the FAA, and the group contends that fast-tracking the bill does not allow congress the time to write in enough protections to stop fraud, abuse, mismanagement at the FAA, nor addresses all of the longstanding safety issues the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) has raised.

"The Senate bill does include some useful provisions but it is months away from rectifying all longstanding critical safety hazards, and it does not safeguard taxpayer investment," said Heather Wolf, Director of Our Airspace. "Lawmakers seeking to fast-track the legislation before the new year do so at an extreme disservice to the taxpayer and to the flying public."

Our Airspace charges that the FAA does not adhere to accounting standards according to governmental audits. They say the "high risk" NextGen project  is more than 10 years behind schedule, over budget by billions, and is being implemented without a cost benefit analysis according to a recent OIG audit.

"Now is no time to award FAA with a blank 44 billion dollar check," says Wolf. "The Senate Finance Committee is rightly hesitant about fast-tracking this bill to the floor for passage before the new year."

"FAA must be made to significantly strengthen regulations on aircraft icing, pilot training, pilot and controller fatigue and bird strike," the release continues. "The FAA has been ignoring NTSB scientific findings for many years, even in the face of two recent commercial aviation disasters which were caused in part by the risks clearly outlined by the NTSB. Passengers also need rights. They should also not be held captive for hours or days without food and water on tarmacs. Congress must hold the FAA accountable."

"We urge congress to immediately pass critical safety and passenger rights as stand alone legislation, and stop fast-tracking S.1451 so that  Congress can fully rectify many of the longstanding and unacceptable issues at the FAA." said Wolf.

FMI: www.ourairspace.org