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Congress: Who’s to blame for airline delays? And how do we end them?
The House Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation held a major hearing on airline delays and consumer issues, and your humble blogger was there to pass on the highlights. The hearing came...
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When it comes to planes, old is not unsafe
In a post about Northwest Airlines’s new Airbus A330s, Ben Mutzabaugh reminds us that Northwest’s workhorse aircraft, the DC-9, is still in use with no planned replacement. NWA has 134 DC-9s, which...
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It’s a broken wingtip, not a broken wing
When I saw the Daily Mail item about the passengers who refused to fly on a plane whose wing tip had been broken off, I thought it was not really worth my blogging attention. Then I got emails about...
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So, what’s new in Congress? Today, elderly pilots
Have you been curious about what Congress is doing on aviation? Yeah, me too, and the answer is: a whole lot of not much. Remember when I wrote about those five-year FAA reauthorization bills this...
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What’s new in Congress?
Here are some coming attractions: the House aviation subcommittee will be holding two hearings in coming weeks which I hope to report on. On February 7, they’ll discuss the president’s 2009 budget...
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Senate gives Sturgell a hearing: a full report
FAA administrator-designate (and current acting administrator) Robert “Bobby” Sturgell faced the Senate Commerce Committee for his confirmation hearing today, fielding harangues and questions from...
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Hoeven on ATC: to fix the system, change the incentives
Air traffic control commercialization can change the incentives in the ATC system, Eugene Hoeven (pictured at right) said during a panel discussion last Wednesday, leading to dramatic improvements in...
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English, the lingua franca of the skies
As of March 5, according to new International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules, English proficiency is now be the required of all pilots and air traffic controllers. In the past, controllers...
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Southwest safety: getting the facts
The FAA has filed an action for a $10.2 million fine against Southwest Airlines on account of operating aircraft without conducting a particular routine inspection on them. Here’s the story: For some...
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Southwest safety inquiry raises concerns about FAA
I’ve been watching the Southwest Airlines inspections controversy unfold over the past week without much comment (except for one post), trying to make sense of what’s happening. There are some big red...
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FAA whistleblowers expose accountability problems in safety inspections
WASHINGTON — In testimony today before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, several current and former FAA employees related their roles in the lapses in inspection of Southwest...
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The FAA fails the safety test: here’s what happened
There were systemic breakdowns in the FAA’s airline safety inspection program, key whistleblowers testified before Congress on April 3. One unaccountable inspector, enabled by a culture of relaxed...
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Concluding thoughts on the aviation safety hearing
On Thursday night I posted the narrative that emerged about the Southwest Airlines-FAA maintenance debacle. Now I’d like to post some of my observations and offer some policy lessons from the April 3...
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FAA reassigns Stuckey
According to an AP report, the agency is reassigning Southwest Region Flight Standards Director Thomas Stuckey to an administrative position without safety oversight responsibilities.
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FAAilure of leadership
As I’ve written before, the failure of the FAA in the Southwest Airlines case and elsewhere seems to stem from a personnel problem. The safety inspection chain of command at the agency ignored and...
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Air traffic control facility staffing: liveblogging the hearing
The House aviation subcommittee is holding a hearing today on air traffic control facility staffing, “including concerns about staffing alignment and training at such facilities.” Here is the...
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FAA safety reform bill exposes agency’s institutional schizophrenia
Representative James Oberstar Yesterday, Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and three cosponsors introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure “arms-length” safety regulation of airlines by the FAA. The legislation...
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Aviation08: The Obama aviation plan
Welcome, new readers! For more blogging on aviation politics, click here. First of all, big props to Obama and his campaign team for actually having a transportation agenda [PDF]. The McCain campaign...
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SWA and the FAA, six months later
DALLAS — Six months after the debacle over safety inspections at Southwest Airlines, after which I concluded that the FAA had scapegoated Southwest with a massive penalty after it became clear that...
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Liveblogging Randy Babbitt’s confirmation hearing
The Senate Commerce Committee is holding a hearing today to review several nominations in its purview, including FAA administrator-designate J. Randolph Babbitt and DOT deputy secretary-designate John...
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