FAA Granted Special Flight Permission On Christmas Eve

Santa Claus, evidently a close friend of the Federal Aviation Administration, has released a portion of his yearly "naughty or nice" lists for industry stakeholders, revealing some high and low points of the safety scene in 2021. 

“I have the utmost gratitude and respect for everyone who makes it their job to keep air travel safe,” writes Santa. “For those people whose bad behavior puts air travel safety in jeopardy, remember: I’m watching!”

Santa expects to bring bountiful presents to flight crew, traffic controllers, cabin crew, lineman, gate agents, airport personnel, astronauts, and masked travelers. 

Those that didn't make the list: Unruly passengers on flights, laser owners targeting aircraft, and illegal charter pilots. Unruly passenger behavior has been a strange phenomenon in the stressful and demanding experience of post-2020 travel. The agency has tried to crack down on the difficult passengers, recently finalizing an agreement to banish them from the TSA's PreCheck credential system, as well as increasing fines up to $37,000. The unruly passenger rate has leapt from its previous average by as much as a factor of 10 in 2021. Even the post-9/11 travel system pales in comparison, with 2004 seeing 310 investigations to this year's 1,054 to date. When counting all reports, not just the ones that merited FAA investigation, the number worsens, currently at 5,779. Unfortunately, the elves at the North Pole's Behavioral Sciences Division don't see a notable reduction in this behavior with the administration of yuletide coal. 

Lasers have continued to be a bugbear for Santa, with his primary reindeer-based propulsion systems being particularly susceptible to the bright lights if shined at them during flight. Reindeer rely on highly sensitive UV vision, Santa says, and those who play around with high-powered laser pointers by aiming at aircraft endanger thousands of passengers a year. Thankfully, anti-Santa laser interference is a rare event, but the flight operations department elves have repeatedly placed requisitions for prohibitively expensive, polarized Reindeer helmets cribbed from the F-35 Lightning Program. 

Finally, the last of the naughty list, is the greater numbers of illegal charter operators in 2021. Earlier this year, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg ordered the FAA to analyze reports on the illegal charter hotline to assess the challenges in identifying illegal operators. If pilots and owners wish to avoid coal-based enforcement action in the future, Santa says, they would be wise to review the regulations on "for hire" operations. The agency admits that educating its own personnel on the identification and recognition of illegal charter activities has been difficult, as they lie in a conflux of regulations and otherwise legal activity. Increasing internet communications, aviation lifestyle communities, and unfamiliar pilots have all added to the numbers of those who may be operating in violation without even knowing it. 

“Santa has centuries of air travel experience and a powerful voice to bring our safety message to millions of people,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “And make no mistake—I trust Santa to know who’s been naughty or nice.”

FMI: www.faa.gov