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BIG AVIATION NEWS: The FAA is expected to formally unground the Boeing 737 MAX this week, most likely on Wednesday, according to our sources and other reporting. It’s important to note that the plane won’t start flying right away: Airlines will need time to get the jets out of storage, implement new training routines and install the software updates approved by the FAA to fix the faulty flight control system that led to two crashes and hundreds of deaths.
When the planes do start reentering carriers’ rotations, airlines will have to deal with negative passenger sentiments. While the average traveler probably doesn’t check what kind of plane they’re flying on, educated ones will, and several surveys over the duration of the grounding found a significant number of respondents who said they would actively avoid the plane once it’s back in service. One travel agency, Cook Travel, is advertising its ability to help travelers avoid flying on the MAX.
Meanwhile, in Congress: Things are moving, but at the typically glacial pace of the federal government. Dueling proposals in the House and Senate would change up the FAA’s aircraft certification process to varying degrees. The House bill, H.R. 8408 (116), is scheduled for a floor vote this week, Tuesday to be exact.
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“Where did everybody go / Ain’t nobody around / Some drive a bus, some drive a car / Some are just useless, whatever they are.”
Rock out to our transportation playlist on Spotify.
T&I GETS BACK TO WORK: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding its first hearing since Election Day this week, and it’s on a subject that could be a top priority for President-elect “Amtrak Joe” Biden. The Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials panel will pull in a number of leaders from across the rail industry on Wednesday to look at the Surface Transportation Board’s role in the passenger rail system.
The witnesses will include two sitting STB members, Ann Begeman and Martin Oberman; high-ranking Amtrak official Stephen Gardner; Ian Jefferies of the Association of American Railroads; and more.
The subcommittee will look into “whether the STB needs to be more aggressive in resolving passenger rail/freight rail conflicts” and if Congress needs to step in to ensure reliable and robust passenger rail service, a committee spokesperson said.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: President Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend: “Congress must now do a Covid Relief Bill. Needs Democrats support. Make it big and focused. Get it done!” And yet, the odds of Congress and the White House reaching an agreement before year’s end after so many failed attempts still seem pretty low. Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff, encouraged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to “keep doing what you’re doing to the Republicans,” during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Though, he also said a stimulus package “could be a first example of bipartisan action post the election.”
A PEEK AT THE FUTURE? Los Angeles’ transit agency has drafted a wishlist for the Biden administration ahead of board meetings this week. The document, prepared by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority’s senior director for federal affairs, offers “a potential window into what the agency’s CEO Phillip Washington, who is heading Biden’s ‘agency review’ team for transportation, may be whispering into the president-elect’s ear,” Sam writes.
The agency’s asks include a request for Biden’s first budget proposal next year to include $3.5 billion for the Capital Investment Grant program, matching the dollar amount included in the House-passed surface transportation bill, H.R. 2 (116). LA Metro also wants Congress to restart negotiations on a pandemic stimulus and enact lengthier future surface transportation reauthorizations.
TROUBLED WATERS: The bicameral duo of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) on Friday pushed the CDC to reinstate its no-sail order after multiple positive coronavirus cases were reported aboard the first cruise ship to sail in the Caribbean since March. Norwegian-based cruise line company SeaDream Yacht Club announced its first positive case on Wednesday, and there were at least seven more by Friday, according to USA Today. “Unfortunately, this troubling development is not surprising and reaffirms the need to exercise extreme caution before sending passengers and crew back out to sea on cruises,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter.
The CDC announced last month that it would allow cruise ships to resume operations under a phased approach requiring safety measures to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading among passengers. According to media reports, the CDC lifted the order after the White House pressured the agency to scrap its initial plan to extend the no-sail order until Feb. 15, 2021. Cruise Lines International Association has voluntarily extended the timeline for resuming cruises in the U.S. to Dec. 31 to allow industry to prepare for the CDC’s testing, sanitation and health care protocols.
BALL OF CONFUSION: In a bipartisan letter sent to House leadership, Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and former chairs Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Pete King (R-N.Y.) attempt to make a case for jurisdictional changes that line up with the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation for a single committee to oversee DHS. “Sixteen years ago, the 9/11 Commission expressed concern that the way Congress was organized would hinder DHS’ development and bog down critical reform legislation in a web of referrals,” according to the letter sent Friday. “Over the past sixteen years, we have had some successes but the promise of a standing House committee over DHS has not been fully realized.”
Six former DHS secretaries and acting secretaries — Rand Beers, Michael Chertoff, Jeh Johnson, Janet Napolitano and Tom Ridge — also recently sent a letter to Congress in support of consolidating DHS oversight in both the House and Senate. They noted that at least 90 committees and subcommittees have jurisdiction over DHS, which is “far more than any other cabinet department.”
RED ALERT: General Motors plans to recall more than 50,000 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles worldwide after five reported fires and two smoke inhalation injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an alert Friday, announcing the fire-risk-related recall for select Model Year 2017-2019 Bolt EVs and advised consumers to “park their cars outside and away from homes until their vehicles have been repaired.”
NHTSA launched a preliminary investigation following three reports of Bolts catching fire, Reuters reports. “GM said the vehicles pose a fire risk when charged to full, or near full capacity,” and that it was developing “software that will limit vehicle charging to 90 percent of full capacity” to reduce the risk while it works on a final fix, according to the story.
RAMPING UP: Lyft has hired a new team of lobbyists following its victory in the Prop 22 campaign in California, our colleagues at POLITICO Influence report. The team includes TheGROUP’s Sudafi Henry, who was Biden’s legislative director while he was vice president, and Darrel Thompson, who worked for former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). According to a recently filed registration, the ride-hailing service tapped TheGroup to lobby on issues related to transportation policy and worker classification — “the crux of the ballot initiative Lyft, Uber and other companies that dispatch workers through apps poured more than $200 million into passing.”
— “Lyft’s Zimmer talks future of workplace, electric vehicles.” Associated Press.
— “Uber in talks to sell ATG self-driving unit to Aurora.” TechCrunch.
— “No one’s riding transit. So why did voters support it?” Wired.
— “A DMV visit was never fun. The pandemic has made it worse.” The Washington Post.
— “Susan Collins reaches peak influence after Senate stunner.” POLITICO.
— “Dragon Crew-1 capsule, with 4 astronauts aboard, on way to ISS.” The Washington Post.
DOT appropriations run out in 25 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,048 days. The surface transportation reauthorization expires in 318 days.
