Majority Statement

• Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV

  Chairman

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
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  Majority Statement

  Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV

  Americans take the safety of their aviation system for granted.  And, they should – given that all too often air travel is a difficult experience, safety is the last thing passengers need to worry about.  There are certain expectations built into modern air travel.  Airline passengers expect that their pilot is experienced and rested; that their aircraft has been properly maintained; and that air traffic controllers will guide their plane safely through the skies.  But, the industry and regulators should never take the safety of the system for granted.  I know that none of us in this room do; everyone here today is deeply committed to aviation safety.  

  Our strong aviation record did not happen overnight.  Everyone involved has worked hard to cultivate a strong safety culture. The FAA, aircraft manufacturers, and airline employees all hold safety as their number one priority, as I do.  Congress has spent a considerable amount of time in the last few years strengthening the FAA. It wasn’t easy, but we got it done. And, the aviation system will become even safer because of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act we passed last year and the Airline Safety Act we passed in 2010.

  As you are well-aware, our goal was to make certain our aviation system continues to be the safest, most efficient, and modern in the world.  The FAA has made considerable progress implementing many of the safety initiatives in those bills, and the agency is to be commended for their effort.  But, now all of the progress the FAA has made is at risk.  Sequestration is affecting every aspect of the FAA’s operations.  

  A great deal of attention has been placed on the potential closure of 149 air traffic control towers, including four in West Virginia.  I have expressed my concerns about the impact of closing these towers on the airports and the communities that depend on them.  I know my colleagues share these concerns and we will likely discuss this issue in detail here today.  I also share my colleagues’ frustration with the lack of transparency on how the agency made this decision and how it intends to implement the budget cuts.  We need to have a better understanding of the specifics.  What I do know is that if we fail to reverse the decrease in the FAA’s budget we will not have the aviation system that we need to compete in the global economy.  

  The hard choices that the FAA has to make to implement the sequester will only be magnified this October when the next fiscal year begins.  I know that the agency will never sacrifice safety, but it be forced to limit every aspect of the system’s operations.  The implementation of Next Gen will be delayed, our aerospace industry will suffer as certification of new technology and equipment is slowed, more towers could be forced to close, and critical safety rulemakings such as pilot training and qualification standards will take longer.  One of the reasons I have so aggressively advocated for moving to a digital satellite-based system with the NextGen program is that it will make the system safer.  

  I know that the FAA will never compromise safety. But, the erosion of FAA’s budget directly impacts our ability to complete NextGen and other safety initiatives.  It threatens our ability to make the continuous improvement to aviation safety we have made since the Wright Brothers.  Unlike other transportation systems, we have a comprehensive plan to move our aviation system into the 21^st Century – but our unwillingness to raise sufficient revenues to pay for it means that we will fall further and further behind.  

  We face difficult budgetary decisions.  We need to make the necessary investments in our transportation networks.  The United States has been the world’s aviation leader for over 100 years – we risk that global leadership position if we are unwilling to continue to invest in it.  The situation with the lithium battery on the Boeing 787 is a perfect example of where the regulators identified and acted swiftly to address a serious safety problem. The company and FAA are evaluating solutions that I hope will soon be proven workable.  

  It is also a perfect example of why the FAA and the industry cannot take safety for granted.  With the ever-increasing complexity of aircraft and the air traffic control system, we need to make sure that our safety systems are advancing with the same speed of our technological innovation.  

  Although the situation with the Boeing 787 has dominated the news, the FAA is currently working with the aviation community to actively identify and address potential risks before they result in an accident. The agency is working with controllers and pilots to increase the reporting of errors, so we can learn from our mistakes.  We are putting the future safety of the system at risk if we are unwilling to sustain our commitment to these critical efforts.

  Everyone agrees that these are vital programs that will directly improve the safety of the system.  Do we really want to slow down these initiatives?  I am not willing to settle for the status quo on aviation safety.  I will seek to maintain the necessary level of funding for the FAA and its critical missions as we continue our efforts to address our broader fiscal issues.  

  I appreciate our budgetary situation is forcing every the federal government to make difficult choices, but those choices still must be smart, driven by good policy, and not damage our long-term economic competitiveness.  It’s a continued commitment to safety that makes the U.S. aviation system the safest in the world. We’ve seen that in recent months – safety has to come above all else. And I am confident that this will continue. 

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Minority Statement

• Senator John R Thune

  Ranking Member

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
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  Minority Statement

  Senator John R Thune

  Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this important hearing. Aviation safety has to be the FAA’s top priority, and it is certainly a top priority of this Committee. 

  Today’s hearing is a good opportunity to review the FAA’s progress on a host of aviation safety issues, including mandates from both the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010, and the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. 

  The first of these laws, enacted in response to the tragic loss of life related to Colgan flight 3407, included several safety reforms for the airline industry. The FAA has made progress in implementing some of these reforms, most notably the issuance of the Flight and Duty Time rule for airline pilots. However, several initiatives are either behind schedule or otherwise incomplete. 

  In particular, I hope that Administrator Huerta will be able to give the Committee an update on the Pilot Qualifications rulemaking, as well as a progress report on the agency’s effort to develop the pilot records database, as directed by the law. I also look forward to hearing from the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, which has been tracking the FAA’s efforts to meet the requirements of the Airline Safety Act.

  More recently, Congress enacted the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which included additional provisions to improve safety. Among other things, the law directed the FAA to develop a strategic plan to address runway safety. The Government Accountability Office has found that the rate of runway incursions has trended steadily upwards in recent years, and the National Transportation Safety Board has again placed improving the safety of airport surface operations on its “Most Wanted List.” I look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses about ongoing efforts to increase the safety of our runways and what remains to be done.

  Of course, we cannot examine aviation safety without discussing the recent incidents involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. While the NTSB continues searching for the root cause of the battery failures that led to a grounding of the jets, the FAA has now approved Boeing’s proposed certification plan that will hopefully address factors that likely contributed to the failures. I understand testing of the design changes has been completed and FAA is analyzing the results. I am eager to hear about the current status of the two on-going efforts, as well as an assessment of what this case says about how the two entities work together.

  Finally, much has been said in recent months regarding the potential impact of the sequestration spending reductions on aviation. While this is no surprise to many at today’s hearing, I am concerned that, rather than sharpening their pencils and finding budget reductions that inflict as little pain as possible on the traveling public, the Administration has threatened to close air traffic control towers, slow down air traffic, and furlough employees. The President, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Administrator have all issued dire warnings about the possible impacts of sequester.

  Now that the cuts are a reality, it is my hope that agency leaders will take a second look at plans to implement budget reductions in a way that minimizes impacts on the traveling public and the economy. Airspace users have paid billions in taxes and fees that support FAA operations, and they deserve better management of services provided. 

  This issue did not sneak up on anyone. During Administrator Huerta’s confirmation process, the FAA failed to provide requested information to Congress and the American public about plans to carry out sequestration. This was true even after the President signed legislation into law last August that I authored -- the Sequestration Transparency Act. And, along with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Shuster, I have sent three letters to the Department of Transportation over the past six weeks to get detailed information about their sequestration plans.

  Last Thursday, Chairman Rockefeller and I sent a letter also signed by Aviation Subcommittee Chairwoman Cantwell, and Ranking Member Ayotte and our counterparts in the House, urging the FAA to target lower priority spending to avoid contract towers closures. Yet, despite my efforts and those of my colleagues to get straightforward information on the Administration’s plans for sequester, here we are with a lack of clarity and very little confidence that the proposed actions – widespread furloughs and tower closures – are the best or only way forward. A letter from Secretary LaHood in response to only one of the letters, delivered late last night, leaves much to be desired in our efforts to gain more clarity on the decisions to close contract towers, and the safety analysis conducted before Administration officials decided to propose closure of so many air traffic control facilities.

  I hope Administrator Huerta will take today as an opportunity to directly answer questions on this important topic and work with Committee Members on the best way forward to implement the sequester reductions which amount to only 2.4 percent of overall federal spending for FY 2013.

  Again, I thank the Chairman for calling this hearing, and I thank all of the witnesses for their part in ensuring the highest level of safety for the traveling public. I look forward to your testimony.

Testimony

• Mr. Michael Huerta

  Administrator

  Federal Aviation Administration
  Download Testimony (278.72 KB)

• Ms. Deborah Hersman

  Chairman

  National Transportation Safety Board
  Download Testimony (916.36 KB)

• Dr. Gerald Dillingham

  Director of Civil Aviation Issues

  Government Accountability Office
  Download Testimony (207.55 KB)

• Mr. Jeffery Guzzetti

  Assistant Inspector General

  Department of Transportation Inspector General
  Download Testimony (154.80 KB)