The U.S. House Subcommittee on Aviation met on September 25, 2008 to receive testimony on runway safety.  This hearing was a follow-up to the Subcommittee’s February 13th hearing.  Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) stated in his opening remarks that although the U.S. air transportation system is the safest in the world, there remain many issues to be addressed to keep it that way.  In particular, he was concerned about the fact that although air traffic is down by 3% for the first six months of 2008 compared with 2007, runway incursions are up slightly.  While agreeing that the FAA is headed in the right direction with respect to the development and the deploying of new runway technology, Rep. Costello wanted the FAA to address the very real human factors that the GAO raised in the previous hearing, i.e., the air traffic controller shortage and the adequacy of the training of air traffic controllers.  Rep. Costello specifically mentioned the serious runway incursion that occurred at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 19, 2008, where a trainee failed to notice that a small single engine airplane had not yet vacated the runway prior to allowing a regional jet to take-off on the same runway.  It was reported that 35% of the controllers at the tower at Allentown are trainees.

With respect to the increase of runway incursions, Hank Krakowski, FAA’s Chief Operating Officer, explained that after the FAA adopted the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) definition of "runway incursion," it has seen a spike in incursions due to the more inclusive nature of the ICAO definition.  That being said, Mr. Krakowski spent most of his time offering an update about the technological innovations and the progress on the testing in the field.  However, Mr. Krakowski did not address Rep. Costello’s concerns head-on.  Although he addressed some of the "human factors," by mentioning certain procedural changes and a "first ever" fatigue symposium (which are, by all accounts, steps in the right direction), he did not mention anything about staffing levels and quality of the training.Continue Reading House Aviation Subcommittee Conducts Hearing on Runway Safety

During July, the Government Accounting Office issued several reports regarding various aviation topics.  One of the topics not covered was the East Coast Airspace Redesign, which was supposed to be issued at the end of July, but now probably will not be issued until the end of August.

Of particular interest was the issuance, on

Yesterday, June, 11, 2008, the House Aviation Subcommittee heard testimony (click on link for video the hearing) on a situation that is becoming more dire as every day passes – Air Traffic Controllers are retiring, leaving a dearth of qualified, trained controllers to take their places.  The House Aviation Subcommittee convened the hearing to find

The Government Accountability Office published the testimony that Dr. Gerald Dilllingham gave to the  House Subcommittee on Aviation regarding the FAA’s efforts to hire and train more air traffic controllers

The Dr. Dillingham’s testimony, entitled "FAA’s Efforts to Hire, Staff and Train More Air Traffic Controllers Are Generally on Track, but Challenges Remain" addresses

At a May 6, 2008, hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Aviation, the FAA sought to dispel several "myths" concerning the effect that aircraft emissions of greenhouse gases have on the environment.  Coming a little over one month after the EPA announced its plans to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for aircraft emissions of GHG (see, "EPA Plans to Release an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Emissions" below),  Daniel K. Elwell, Assistant Administrator, Office of Aviation Policy, Planning and Environment, testified that there were three myths that needed to be put to rest.  First, Mr. Elwell stated that aircraft emissions account for only 3% of GHG emissions, and “the largest aviation market in the world is burning less fuel today than in 2000.”  Indeed, Mr. Elwell, said, aviation in general and aircraft in particular are becoming more fuel efficient, now outstripping automobiles in terms of energy intensity – that is automobiles burn more BTUs per passenger mile than aircraft.  This increase in fuel efficiency and the attend reduction in GHG emissions was one of the primary themes of several other witnesses as well:

Second, Mr. Elwell stated that CO2 emissions by aircraft at altitude do not have any more (or any
Continue Reading House Subcommittee on Aviation Hears FAA Testimony on Aircraft Emissions of Greenhouse Gases