With help from Brianna Gurciullo, Stephanie Beasley and Saim Saeed
— The first of two high-stakes hearings featuring Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg begins this morning, and senators get to grill him about the grounded 737 MAX.
— A partial draft of a driverless car bill circulated this week is the latest attempt to revive AV legislation, but it doesn’t address the hot-button issues that plagued previous measures.
— A new report from TSA envisions a future where airport screeners take a backseat to biometric technologies like facial recognition and ID scanners.
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ROUND ONE FOR BOEING: The first of two congressional hearings in two days on the MAX kicks off this morning, with Muilenburg set to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee. His opening statement, released Monday, will acknowledge that the company “made mistakes and got some things wrong” and that it’s “still learning” from the two crashes that killed 346 people. But Muilenburg will also voice confidence in Boeing’s fixes to the MAX.
That alone is unlikely to satisfy senators, who have noted flaws in Boeing’s safety culture and the FAA’s certification process with increasing frustration. Here’s what Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) plans to ask, he told POLITICO: “Is the plane ready to go? And then, what mistakes were made? What’s to prevent them from happening in the future?” A spokesperson for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who chairs Commerce’s Aviation and Space Subcommittee, said the facts have “only gotten worse” since the crashes. “If there’s a policy fix, I will pursue it,” Cruz tweeted. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) have already introduced legislation that would codify NTSB recommendations stemming from the crashes.
In addition to being a crucial moment for Boeing, and a chance to pick up clues about how lawmakers might proceed legislatively, it will also be an extremely high-profile affair with many cameras. Some hearings with big companies can devolve into parochial issues. Boeing has employees in all 50 states. Under other circumstances, you might expect lawmakers to ask Muilenburg about a facility in their district. But it’s hard to imagine anyone taking that tack today with the stakes so high.
What we’re watching for: Hints from senators about whether they’re leaning toward writing bills that would go deeper than the Cantwell-Duckworth legislation or address the FAA’s Organization Designation Authorization program. We know for sure one is: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn). We’re also keeping an ear out for any news from Muilenburg about how the FAA’s ongoing review of the MAX is progressing.
Also in attendance at the hearings this week will be nearly 20 family members of the victims of the crashes. They’ve had a continual presence in Washington for months. Some of them met with Deputy FAA Administrator Dan Elwell on Monday, and they’re planning to speak to Boeing executives, including Muilenburg, after the hearings.
The House Transportation Committee is gearing up to question Muilenburg on Wednesday, too. “How the hell did this happen?” Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said on Monday, giving a preview of his line of questioning. “How did you design an airplane with a single point of failure wired to a safety-critical catastrophic system? How could that ever happen?”
AIRLINES WARN EU OVER TAX PLANS: Airlines for America wrote a cautionary letter to European Commission mobility and transport chief Henrik Hololei, warning that Germany’s plans to hike its ticket tax violate the U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement. According to the trade group, the move to lower revenue from value-added tax on trains in exchange for raising revenue from flight ticket tax is a form of “cross-subsidization” that runs contrary to Article 12 of the Open Skies agreement, which states user charges must be cost related.
AV BILL IS BACK, BABY: The House and Senate committees working on a new driverless car bill circulated a partial staff draft on Monday, but as our Tanya Snyder reports, it doesn’t even try to address the stickiest issues that brought down AV legislation in the last Congress, like federal preemption and arbitration.
What’s in it: The draft includes provisions where the major players have been able to find substantial agreement — exemptions, testing and evaluation and an automated vehicles advisory council.
What they’re saying: “Whatever they put out is going to get the s— kicked out of it,” a senior Democratic House aide told Tanya before the bill’s release, presaging criticism from the National League of Cities, which called it a “repackaging” of last year’s legislation.
Unusual process: The staff of the House Energy and Commerce and Senate Commerce committees split up the bill, each taking a section to craft and then hammer out the differences. “I think a lot of folks haven’t seen anything, are unclear what’s happening, what the process is, what sections are being worked on,” a driverless car lobbyist said.
TSA IN THE BUILDING, TOO: A lower-profile grilling, but a grilling nonetheless, will also take place today in the House Homeland Security Committee, where TSA’s acting No. 2 Patricia Cogswell will testify about the agency’s implementation of last year’s TSA Modernization Act. She’ll also get asked about the agency’s progress on expanding PreCheck and use of biometrics.
FUTURE SO BRIGHT: TSA said in a new report released Monday that facial recognition would “largely automate the process by which TSA verifies a traveler’s identity,” our Stephanie Beasley writes. The agency has partnered with Customs and Border Protection to pilot facial recognition at several airports. CBP also said in the report that it plans to use facial recognition at the top 20 U.S. airports by 2022.
NEW DAY, NEW BAN PROPOSAL: On Monday, Republican Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.), Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.) offered an amendment to a four-bill minibus, H.R. 3055 (116), that would ban the Interior Department from buying Chinese-made drones. The trio also also part of a group of senators that introduced legislation in September that would ban federal agencies from buying drones made in China, Iran and other countries thought to pose national security threats.
GETTING CBP A BOOST: A coalition of business, travel and union groups is urging House and Senate appropriators to include enough funding in a fiscal 2020 Homeland Security spending bill for CBP to hire an additional 1,200 agents at airports and other ports of entry. They also noted that long wait times at ports of entry “can increase supply-chain costs and cause passengers to miss their connections.”
HARBOR BILL GETS GREENLIGHT: The House voted 296-109 to pass H.R. 2440 (116), which would require that funds in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund are used entirely for their intended purpose.
WHERE’S ELAINE CHAO TODAY? The Transportation secretary will speak at DOT’s Access and Mobility for All Summit, which focuses on technologies that expand access to transportation for people with disabilities, older adults, and individuals with low incomes. Chao will announce “programs and strategies to develop and deploy innovations in technology to improve mobility and accessibility for all Americans,” according to the agency.
There are deadlines for nominations to two DOT advisory panels this week. Suggestions for the Women in Aviation Advisory Board are due today and the Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force are due Wednesday.
AMTRAK GETS ANOTHER AVIATION EXEC: Steve Predmore, a longtime aviation industry safety professional, is heading to Amtrak to be an executive vice president and chief safety officer at the railroad, Tanya reports.
— “FAA’s lax oversight played part in Boeing 737 Max crashes, but agency is pushing to become more industry-friendly.” The Washington Post.
— “U.S. air travel regulator calls for focus on safety as deadly crash anniversary nears.” Reuters.
— “Volkswagen sets up autonomous driving subsidiary, plans Silicon Valley site next year.” CNBC.
— “GM, Chrysler, Toyota side with Trump administration in fuel economy fight.” POLITICO Pro.
— “Ford, UAW negotiators meet in Dearborn for ‘final stretch’ of contract talks.” Detroit Free Press.
DOT appropriations run out in 24 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,433 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 338 days.
