— Expect movement on both FAA bills this week, with a markup in the Senate imminent and an expected floor vote in the House.
— Sen. Joe Manchin sends a letter to Senate Commerce Committee leaders, first reported by MT, urging them not to add additional long-haul flights to Reagan National.
— Buttigieg heads to Vermont to assess the “catastrophic damage” in the state after last week’s unprecedented flooding.
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READY FOR TAKEOFF? This week is primed for consequential action in the House and Senate on their respective FAA bills, S. 1939 (118) and H.R. 3935 (118). But an expected House floor vote could be slowed down by a number of hot-button issues and significant time built in for amendments to appease House conservatives. House Rules is expected to kick off the amendment process this afternoon, but more than 300 amendments are up for potential consideration. There’s bipartisan amendments on three major issues: pilot training, pilot retirement age and expanding the number of long-haul flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
— The Senate is further behind, but a markup is imminent. After weeks of inaction, Aviation Subcommittee Chair Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said there was a “breakthrough” on Thursday. Duckworth said a deal had been reached to raise the commercial pilot retirement age from 65 to 67 in exchange for not altering existing rules that require prospective commercial pilots to accrue 1,500 hours of flight time. Your MT hosts have more.
— And the fight between Delta Air Lines and United Airlines over Reagan National flights drags on. The dispute is a classic Washington influence-fest that doesn’t break down neatly on party lines. United Vice President of Regulatory and Policy Steve Morrissey said opposing any changes to the number of flights at Reagan National is “our top priority” heading into the week. Delta Head of Policy and Advocacy Communications Lisa Hanna said in a statement that the airline anticipates “a responsible and measured outcome that will bring competition to the national capital region, while preserving in-perimeter service and operational reliability.”
— On Sunday, Ben Minicucci, Robert Isom and Scott Kirby, the CEOs of Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and United, respectively, sent a letter to House leadership saying they are “concerned” the FAA bill is “being derailed” by efforts to change the airport’s slot and perimeter rules and urged them to not consider “legislation that would add more flights to DCA.”
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FIRST IN MT: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sent a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and ranking member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today urging them not to add more long-haul flights to Reagan National. Manchin also said it is “unacceptable” to potentially cut service to smaller cities “simply because of the added convenience to some members of Congress.”
“Any change to the perimeter rule leading to an increased volume of long-haul flights out of DCA would create real and serious concern over continued daily air service from regional airports to our nation’s capital, including to state capitals such as Charleston, West Virginia,” Manchin wrote.
— Manchin isn’t on the Commerce Committee and has opposed previous attempts to expand exemptions Reagan National’s 1,250-mile perimeter. But he frequently is a crucial vote in a narrowly divided Senate, and his position is in line with Democratic senators from Maryland and Virginia who oppose any changes.
AD ASTRA PER ASPRA: Speaking of Reagan National flights, Commerce Committee Aviation Subcommittee ranking member Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) announced a new American Airlines flight to Wichita from Reagan National on Friday, a route that will begin early next year. Moran doesn’t commute through Wichita, spokesperson Tom Brandt said (his home is closer to Kansas City).
— The new American flight “adds service to a previously underserved route without exiting any other in-perimeter markets,” American spokesperson Amy Lawrence said in a statement. That means the new flight comes at the expense of another destination’s flight but doesn’t fully sever American service to Reagan National. Brandt said the Wichita flight had been in the works for years.
BETTER SUMMER: DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg was asked by CNN on Friday about United CEO Scott Kirby’s remarks praising the FAA’s recent performance after storms in the New York City area, a departure from his criticism last month. Buttigieg said the airlines “are scheduling more conservatively than before” and said the effort has helped to ensure a better summer flying experience compared with last summer. He added that “there’s always going to be a push and pull” between airlines and the DOT because the agency is ultimately responsible for regulating safety and competition.
“I will say I have been struck by improvements compared to one year ago that we have seen in the national airspace where we had dramatic storms and disruptions hitting our major hubs, but the system is recovering in a way we would have not seen a year ago,” Buttigieg said.
— Buttigieg declined to weigh in on raising the pilot retirement age, however, saying the issue was “in the middle of complex and sensitive negotiations on Capitol Hill.” The House FAA bill currently raises the retirement age from 65 to 67, and the Senate is likely to include a similar provision over the objections of pilot unions.
APRIL NUMBERS: Airline traffic numbers reached a record high for April 2023, according to new DOT data released Friday. BTS recorded 77.5 million total passengers that month, up 3.4 percent from March when adjusting for seasonality and down just 3.3 percent from January 2020’s all-time high. Passenger numbers in April peaked systemwide, domestically and internationally, both raw and when adjusting for seasonality.
RAIL REFRESH: Amtrak on Friday announced it has requested federal funding to upgrade maintenance facilities in Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Amtrak plans to replace “a large portion” of its fleet with “state-of-the-art passenger trainsets and locomotives across the country,” Laura Mason, the agency’s executive vice president for capital delivery, said in a news release. These include new Acela and Airo trainsets, the release said.
AV FRENZY: California Teamsters rallied Friday outside San Francisco City Hall in support of AB 316, a state bill that would require trained human operators in autonomous vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds in a move to preemptively curb fully autonomous trucking in the state. The bill was unanimously approved by the California Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday.
— Tensions over AVs are rising in San Francisco, where driverless “robotaxies” operated by AV companies Waymo and Cruise are already on the streets. A California Public Utilities Commission vote to expand their range has been delayed — for the second time — until August after protesters went viral trying to disable the cars by placing traffic cones on their hoods and after city officials decried the robotaxies’ safety record.
BUTTIGIEG TO VERMONT: Buttigieg will join Vermont Gov. Phil Scott today to assess what Scott called “catastrophic damage to infrastructure across the state” caused by the storms that battered the Northeast and left much of Vermont underwater last week. President Joe Biden on Friday approved Scott’s request for a major disaster declaration, authorizing FEMA to reimburse the state for up to 75 percent of the cost of its emergency public repairs, as well as a program to reimburse individuals for emergency expenses not covered by insurance.
— “A US auto union president who accepts ‘no limits.’” Reuters.
— “Train derailments expose rift between Trump-backed populists, pro-business GOP.” Bloomberg.
— “London’s Gatwick Airport warns of disruption due to planned strikes this summer.” Bloomberg.
— “Drones reach stratospheric heights in race to fly higher, longer.” The Wall Street Journal.
— “Can airline seating get any worse? ‘A new form of torture chamber.’” The Wall Street Journal.
— “United Airlines pilots reach labor agreement, boost pay.” Reuters.
— “Autoworkers open contract talks in a fighting mood.” The New York Times.
— “What would an Amtrak revival look like?” Bloomberg.
— “NTSB looking at risk parked semis posed to Greyhound bus in fatal Illinois accident.” The Associated Press.
