LAWMAKERS REACH DEAL TO REAUTHORIZE FAA AND SET POLICY
May 16, 2024
The U.S. House and Senate have reached a tentative deal that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) and set aviation policy for the next five years. Here are some of the deal’s policy initiatives:
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1,500-hour rule remains in effect which requires commercial pilots in training to record 1,500 hours in actual cockpit in order to become certified. The rule has come under significant scrutiny with an earlier version of the deal seeking to increase the amount of simulator time that could count towards the hours requirement.
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Commercial airlines would be required to maintain cockpit voice devices able to record 25 hours of data, up from the current 2 hours. This was effectuated after a litany of near crashes on runways over the past two years.
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Increased hiring targets for Air Traffic Controllers. Legislators want to train more Air Traffic Controllers due to recent shortages and disputes between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
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Improvements for runway and ground technology. The FAA would flag airports who are unable to bolster surface surveillance and detection systems in an effort to identify where upgrades are needed most.
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Following the Malaysia Airlines 370 incident, the FAA must now deliver a rule that enables for recovery operations for underwater crashes and the installation of underwater location devices that emit signal for at least 90 days.
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Annual inspections at foreign aircraft repair stations. This comes as the FAA considers whether to implement drug and alcohol testing for workers at foreign repair stations.
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Requirement of cash refunds owed passengers for canceled or significantly delayed flights which follows a recently issued DOT rule. Codifying this rule will likely have a significant impact on court challenges to the rule.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr at 202.659.6622 or esahr@eckertseamans.com; Drew Derco at 202-659-6665 or dderco@eckertseamans.com; Jay Julien at 202.659.6648 or jjulien@eckertseamans.com, or any other attorney at Eckert Seamans with whom you have been working.
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