Flight left Chicago’s O’Hare airport on morning of Christmas Eve and body discovered at Hawaii’s Kahului airport
Flight left Chicago’s O’Hare airport on morning of Christmas Eve and body discovered at Hawaii’s Kahului airport
The Beechcraft plane landed on the Thruway in Albany after a report of mechanical problems. There were no injuries.
The 20th temporary extension of the Federal Aviation Administration expires in days.
The House passed a bill threatened by a presidential veto, and the FAA may be shut down midnight Friday, and end “Essential Air Service” to 13 cities.
Thirteen airports are targeted to lose their EAS subsidies.
Press Release – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Urges Swift Action by Congress on FAA Bill
July 20, 2011
WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt called on Congress today to pass a clean extension of the FAA’s authorization in order to avoid airport project construction delays and employee furloughs. The current FAA reauthorization expires at midnight this Friday, July 22, 2011. LaHood and Babbitt said they oppose the House bill because it includes controversial provisions that needlessly threaten critical FAA programs and jeopardize thousands of public and private sector jobs.
“Congress needs to stop playing games, work out its differences, and pass a clean FAA bill immediately. There is no excuse for not getting this done,” said Secretary LaHood. “Important programs and construction projects are at stake. This stalemate must be resolved.”
Secretary LaHood also said, “I want to reassure the flying public that, during this period, safety will not be compromised.”
“We are going to be forced to furlough valuable FAA employees unless this situation is resolved quickly,” said FAA Administrator Babbitt. “These employees do everything from getting money out the door for airport construction projects, to airport safety planning and NextGen research. We need them at work.”
If Congress does not extend the FAA’s authorities approximately 4,000 employees will be furloughed beginning Saturday July 23, 2011. Without the appropriate authority, taxes will not be deposited into the Trust Fund to pay some FAA employees. Employees who are paid out of the Trust Fund handle a variety of functions including: airport safety and engineering standards; airport safety planning; the Airport Improvement Program, which administers construction project grants to airports; and Research, Engineering, and Development, which includes NextGen research and testing.
Congress has extended the FAA’s authorization 20 separate times.
Without a full year extension, FAA will be unable to move forward on more than $600 million in airport construction projects that include good paying jobs for local communities across the country. Some of these projects include:
GulfportBiloxi International Airport: proceed with construction of a terminal building expansion, rehabilitation runway lighting, rehabilitation of a taxiway, and rehabilitation of an access road.
RichmondInternational Airport: proceed with construction of a new apron for terminal concourse A.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport: proceed with construction of taxiway Y and Z rehabilitation.
LaredoInternational Airport: proceed with the rehabilitation of the Engineered Material Arresting System which will help protect passengers if an aircraft leaves the runway.
Additionally, during each of the previous 20 short term extensions, the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program has only received small portions of its $3.5 billion in grant money.
As a result, states and airports have been left waiting to plan projects or begin construction since the total amount available is unknown. Some projects that are already underway are being constructed in stages and the total cost of the project will likely be higher as a result of that approach.
For example, in Wisconsin, the state has delayed accepting construction bids until officials know how much federal funding is available. Unless the FAA receives a longer extension, projects in Wisconsin could be delayed into next year since the construction season will start to wind down at the end of the summer.
Two stowaways were arrested on different flights in November and December.
The United States Needs a Cohesive National Airline Strategy That Includes Accelerated Deployment of NextGen
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2011 — The chief executive of the Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, testified today before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), calling for investment in the nation’s air traffic control system to create jobs, grow the economy and enable global competitiveness.
Commercial aviation drives $1.2 trillion in economic activity annually, supports nearly 11 million jobs and is responsible for more than 5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
“No other industry has such a powerful economic multiplier effect as commercial aviation,” said ATA President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “Aviation provides the key connections that make the economy grow. If we want to double our nation’s exports over the next five years, there is no way to do it without commercial aviation.”
ATA called on Congress to view FAA reauthorization as a jobs bill, as an investment in NextGen air traffic management that will lead to the creation of 150,000 jobs immediately, and more over time. Other countries, including China, are investing heavily in their aviation infrastructure, to help transform their economies. China recently announced the equivalent of a $228 billion investment in aviation.
“[NextGen] is about the underlying strength of the U.S. economy and the ability of American industries to compete – and win – on the global stage,” Calio said. “The antiquated, ground-based air traffic control system in place today is a major drag on productivity and job creation. By accelerating NextGen, more than 150,000 jobs can be created, fuel consumption can be cut by as much as 12 percent and delays, which cost the United States $31 billion in 2007 alone, can be reduced.”
ATA urged that Congress and the administration craft a cohesive national airline strategy that would include accelerated deployment of NextGen and a rationalizing of the industry’s tax burden, which has soared from $3.7 billion in 1990 to more than $16 billion in 2010.
“Commercial aviation has the distinction of being among the highest taxed industries in the country, along with alcohol and tobacco – ironically products that are taxed to discourage use – when in fact, we should be doing all that we can to encourage air travel to the benefit of the economy and to job growth,” Calio said.
ABOUT ATA
Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and nearly 11 million U.S. jobs. ATA airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For more information about the airline industry, visit www.airlines.org and follow us on Twitter @airlinesassn.
The missing data deepens the puzzle of what caused the deadly air disaster in Muan, South Korea, late last month.