With help from Brianna Gurciullo
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— DOT’s new proposed rule on unfair and deceptive practices by air carriers and ticket agents has already earned scrutiny from consumer advocates.
— The FAA needs to do better at improving aviation safety in Alaska, federal safety investigators said Thursday.
— The head of the House Transportation Committee added to the criticism surrounding the FRA’s new freight rail risk reduction rule, which left out fatigue management.
IT’S FRIDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Brianna Gurciullo is helping out with Monday’s MT, so get in touch with tip and cat gifs at bgurciullo@politico.com or @brigurciullo.
“We walk the line and try to see / Fallin’ behind in what could be, oh.”
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, rails, rivers and runways.
ALL’S UNFAIR IN LOVE AND AIR TRAVEL: Consumer advocates are not happy with a new proposed rule from DOT on “unfair” or “deceptive” practices by air carriers and ticket agents. John Breyault, the National Consumers League’s vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud, said in an interview with MT that, in the rule, “DOT is proposing setting all kinds of new bars that it would have to get over in order to to conduct any enforcement actions” under its power to regulate unfair and deceptive practices.
Tl;dr: The rule would codify definitions for unfair and deceptive, require DOT to explain the “basis” for finding that a practice is unfair or deceptive, and “adopt formal hearing procedures for discretionary aviation consumer protection rulemakings,” similar to those for so-called economically significant rulemakings. It would also codify DOT’s “longstanding practice” of giving airlines and ticket agents the chance “to be heard and present relevant evidence before any determination is made.”
“You’re just putting more barriers in the way of the DOT exercising its authority here,” Breyault said. The National Consumers League has pushed DOT “to be more aggressive” in using that authority, which includes the ability to assess fines.
Airlines for America, which requested the changes, praised the rule, saying in a statement that it would “provide greater transparency for both the U.S. airline industry and the flying public.”
Thought bubble: The ability to shape the definition of exactly what is considered “unfair” or “deceptive” is a major opening for the airline industry, considering the way it has chafed under, for instance, the tarmac delay rule, which DOT specifically called out in its press release as being underpinned by the agency’s “authority to prohibit unfair or deceptive practices.”
ALASKAN AIR SAFETY IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The NTSB is calling for the FAA to take a more comprehensive approach to improving aviation safety in Alaska, where the accident rate was more than twice as high than in the rest of the country as a whole in the last decade. “We need to marshal the resources of the FAA to tackle aviation safety in Alaska in a comprehensive way,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a statement. Two weeks ago, five people were killed in a commuter plane crash in Southwest Alaska.
The safety agency specifically called out issues with the FAA’s organization that hinder it in adequately responding to challenges in Alaska, saying the “silo-like” nature of the agency makes it difficult to develop a plan for the state. Among other things, the state needs more automated weather observing stations and more instrument flight rules operations than it currently does, according to the NTSB. “The FAA’s failure to fully implement needed safety programs in Alaska has resulted in aviation safety issues in Alaska persisting,” the NTSB’s recommendation said.
FIRST IN MT: Two top Republicans on the House Transportation Committee are introducing legislation today that would ensure that Airport Improvement Program funds can be used by airports to incentivize early completion of runway and airport projects. Under current law, airports cannot use the funds to incentivize early completion of projects, even if the early completion would result in significant capacity or efficiency gains for the airport, according to Sam Graves and Garret Graves.
DEFAZIO JOINS CRITICISM OF NEW FREIGHT RULE: House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) is not a fan of the FRA’s new risk reduction rule for freight railroads. Earlier this week, NTSB commissioner Jennifer Homendy (a former Democratic staffer under DeFazio on the committee) called out the rule for not meeting congressional direction, which had specifically required that risk reduction plans include management, and DeFazio agreed.
“The agency’s final rule flies in the face of that mandate by failing to require that risk reduction programs address this major safety risk,” DeFazio said in a statement. “For far too long, fatigue has plagued the industry, leaving railroad workers to suffer from exhaustion that can lead to unsafe situations that put workers and communities as risk.”
The FRA said fatigue management will be addressed in another rule to come.
THE LATEST ON TEXAS HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Spain’s national high-speed rail company Renfe announced Thursday that it had inked a $6 billion deal to build and operate the Texas Central line between Houston and Dallas. According to Radio France International, “the design and construction phase of the contract, which will run to 2026, is worth some $311 million, while the operation and maintenance of the line between 2026 and 2042 will bring in some $5.6 billion.”
But opposition to the project remains strong. Landowners along the planned route, joined by state and local officials, met Wednesday night and remain committed to the fight, the Houston Chronicle reports. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), a longtime opponent, promised to fight at the federal level, where regulators are still considering whether Texas Central is a federally recognized railroad. “After we stop them again in Washington, this battle shifts back to Texas,” Brady said.
BIPARTISAN HEAT FOR AMTRAK: Two Pennsylvania congressmen, Republican Brian Fitzpatrick and Democrat Brendan Boyle, are rallying with unions in Philadelphia today to protest Amtrak’s outsourcing of call center jobs. The two will join the Transportation Communications Union and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers near the 30th Street Station.
The railroad still has a call center there, but it recently shut down one in Riverside, Calif., and shifted some of its resources to a contract with a company that unions claim pays half of what workers earned in Riverside.
MAILBAG: Two senators who pushed for prohibitions on transit agencies buying railcars and buses wrote to the FTA this week asking the agency to speak up about a ban that will go into effect in two years. Specifically, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) asked the FTA to send a “dear colleague” letter to transit grant recipients explaining the recent changes.
UPDATE FROM THE EMPIRE STATE: New York officials are continuing to cast doubt on the future of the state’s first-in-the-nation congestion pricing project. The latest from POLITICO New York’s Dana Rubinstein: During an unrelated press conference on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo cast doubt on the program, in light of the federal government’s unwillingness to tell New York what type of environmental review it needs to do to win federal approval, a development she first reported on Tuesday.
DOC OF THE DAY: The National Governors Association published a report Thursday on how states are planning for the hits to their revenue from the increase in electric vehicles on the road. The main conclusion: There’s no easy answer right now. “Creating an equitable user-pay revenue stream from EVs is a complex matter and one that may not necessarily align with broader state goals” regarding emissions and electrification.
— “Norwegian cruise line cancels Asia voyages through September.” Wall Street Journal.
— “Trump targets New York again, this time over car exports.” New York Times.
— “Economic consequences of rail blockade worsen; RCMP make gesture.” Radio Canada International.
— “Kia recalls SUVs, vans; electrical problem can cause fires.” Associated Press.
— “Kuwait ports suspend travel and from Iran amid coronavirus fears.” Reuters.
DOT appropriations run out in 222 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,319 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 222 days.
