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Airlines united against hypothetical distancing mandate


With help from Tanya Snyder, Brianna Gurciullo and John Hendel

Editor’s Note: Morning Transportation is a free version of POLITICO Pro Transportation’s morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.

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— Airlines continue to say they don’t want the federal government to make any requirements about social distancing on planes.

— New York’s governor says he had a good meeting with President Donald Trump during a visit to D.C. to talk infrastructure.

— A union representing Amtrak workers says the railroad moved too slow in asking Congress for help.

IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Get in touch with tips, feedback or song lyric suggestions at [email protected] or @samjmintz.

“Drive by your house, nobody’s home / I’m trying to tell myself that I’m better off alone.”

LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, railways, rivers and runways.

Calling all China watchers: The trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship will determine whether this century is judged a bright or a dismal one. POLITICO’s David Wertime is launching a new China newsletter that will be worth the read. Sign up.

DON’T TELL US HOW TO SEAT OUR PASSENGERS: Airlines are united against any federal social distancing requirements, our Brianna Gurciullo reports. The latest effort came Wednesday from a trade group representing ultra low-cost carriers like Frontier and Spirit, which urged DOT to push back on “any federal regulatory efforts to impose arbitrary capacity limitations on aircraft,” including prohibiting middle seats from being filled.

Other airline groups have agreed that a mandate would be too costly, but some Democrats in Congress have been pushing for federal guidance on the subject.

AMERICAN WARNS LAYOFFS ARE COMING: American Airlines says it needs to eliminate 30 percent of its management and support staff by Sept. 30, though it will seek volunteers first, according to the letter by Executive Vice President of People and Global Engagement Elise Eberwein.

Fine print: So as to not run afoul of the CARES Act, which provided American $5.8 billion to protect airline personnel and prohibits layoffs during the term of the grants and loans, no one will lose their job before Sept. 30, though laid off personnel will be notified in July. They will not get severance beyond September, though they can keep their travel status for another year and COBRA benefits for 18 months.

BIG CUTS AT BOEING, TOO: The aerospace giant began its recently announced downsizing this week by saying it would lay off 6,770 U.S. workers involuntarily, with more to come and thousands of others leaving the company by choice. “We have done our very best to project the needs of our commercial airline customers over the next several years as they begin their path to recovery,” said CEO David Calhoun, who took over Boeing earlier this year, in a memo. More details for Pros here.

By the way: The manufacturer also said on Wednesday that it restarted production on the 737 MAX, which has been paused since January with the plane still grounded.

BY THE WAY: Airports Council International wrote to MT to clarify that it doesn’t oppose health screenings at airports, though guidance it released earlier this week stated that “on-airport measures for health screening should be avoided” and temperature checks in particular “may rapidly cause queueing and slowdown of the passenger process.”

In a statement on Wednesday, ACI said its guidance stated that thermal screening could “play a useful role in reassuring the traveling public and act as a deterrent for travel in case of suspicion of infection.” And if temperature screenings are mandated, they should happen “early on in the passenger process,” and any “impact on operations at the airport and the passenger experience” should be minimized.

HARRY AND MEGHAN’S DRONE NIGHTMARE: The drones swooping over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s California home aren’t a federal problem, at least not yet. The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday that at least five incidents of drones flying over the property in Hollywood Hills have been reported to Los Angeles police. MT asked the FAA whether it was involved in any investigation, and the agency said it hadn’t received any reports or complaints. “If anyone reports a safety-related concern to us, we will look into it,” a spokesperson said, noting that privacy doesn’t fall into the aviation regulator’s jurisdiction.

THE GUV COMES TO TOWN: With a shovel in the trunk of his car (figuratively, we think), New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pitched Trump on infrastructure as an economic stimulus on Wednesday, asking the former New York resident for quick approvals on a number of Empire State projects. Cuomo said his conversation with the president was a good one, and Trump told him they would continue talking next week.

“He’s a builder, he’s a developer, he gets it,” Cuomo said, repeating the oft-cited description of Trump’s past life. POLITICO New York’s Anna Gronewold has more for Pro subscribers.

States getting ready: Despite broad Republican pushback on big infrastructure spending in the next coronavirus relief bill — if there is one — states are already gearing up for an anticipated windfall. Infrastructure consultant Michael Likosky is advising states like California and New Jersey, which are dusting off priority project wish lists and restructuring transportation and planning departments in anticipation of what they hope might be coming their way. Likosky said that after the 2009 stimulus, it took several months for states to figure out how to take advantage of some programs, like new bond instruments, and they don’t plan to be caught flat-footed again.

UNION SLAMS AMTRAK OVER FURLOUGHS: A union representing 7,500 Amtrak workers panned the railroad for its decision to cut its workforce later this year, saying that Amtrak didn’t act quickly enough to secure help from lawmakers. “Amtrak is gearing up to furlough thousands while making a late and insufficient funding request to Congress,” said Bill DeCarlo, national vice president for the Transportation Communications Union/IAM.

Amtrak asked Congress earlier this week for nearly $1.5 billion in additional funding for fiscal 2021, but even if granted, that money would not arrive until October. “TCU and other unions are calling on Congress to help Amtrak since they can’t help themselves by providing funding to keep essential transportation services alive in rural America, and keep thousands of our hard-working heroes on the job,” DeCarlo said.

Amtrak convened a telephone town hall on Wednesday to inform workers about upcoming changes, responding to questions that were submitted ahead of time. A source with knowledge of the call said it was clear the company intended to cut long distance routes and jobs in order to get back to where it was before the crisis — on the brink of breaking even for the first time ever.

PROMOTION FOR A FORMER DOT’ER: Derek Kan, who until last year was undersecretary for policy at DOT, is continuing his swift rise through the ranks of the Trump administration. Trump nominated him this week to be deputy director of the influential Office of Management and Budget, where he’s been serving as executive associate director.

TELECOM TIMELINE: FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly expects the agency will soon hold a vote finalizing its proposed carve-up of the 5.9 GHz auto airwaves, which are currently dedicated to technology that would allow vehicles to communicate with each other to help prevent crashes. “I think we can be really confident that we’re going to get a vote on 5.9 by the end of the summer,” O’Rielly said. He noted he’s “expecting that to be the case.” The FCC has already announced the agenda for the June 9 monthly meeting, which leaves the July 16 and Aug. 6 sessions as likely contenders to feature the high-profile item.

Commissioners first voted unanimously to proceed with Pai’s 5.9 GHz plan in December over objections from the Transportation Department, which would prefer the full 75 MHz be saved for transportation safety.

FOR YOUR RADAR: The Senate Commerce Committee is holding a hearing next week on the state of transportation and supply chain infrastructure, with leaders from the auto, trucking and rail industries expected to testify.

— “‘A shameful nightmare’: Truckloads of perfectly good JUMP bikes are being shredded.” Vice.

— “Historic SpaceX launch delayed because of weather.” POLITICO.

— “California DOT head says gas tax decline won’t be as bad as feared.” POLITICO Pro.

— “American Airlines to allow travelers to switch from crowded flights as coronavirus fears linger.” CNBC.

— “U.S. states sue Trump administration over fuel efficiency rollback.” Reuters.

DOT appropriations run out in 125 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,221 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 125 days.





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