Transportation

House’s turn to grill Boeing CEO


With help from Brianna Gurciullo and Tanya Snyder

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Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg heads to the House today to testify again, after navigating a high-profile hearing in the Senate.

In another Capitol Hill grilling, lawmakers pressed a top TSA official over the agency’s implementation of a modernization bill enacted last year.

At the top of the surface transportation bill wish list for a coalition of transportation unions: more money.

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“Drive me up to London now it’s got too dark to see, / My waiting is over, there’s no visitor for me.”

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SPOTLIGHT ON BOEING CONTINUES: Tuesday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the Boeing 737 MAX was short on new details but contained plenty of drama. Perhaps the most telling quote came from Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), showcasing the broad mistrust that will haunt Boeing for the foreseeable future. “I would walk before I was to get on a 737 MAX,” Tester said. “I would walk. There’s no way.”

How did Muilenburg do? Depends on who you ask (even within the same publication). One reporter at the Seattle Times, which covers Boeing closely, said the CEO was largely unscathed and avoided “being pinned down on key details related to specific failures that led to two fatal crashes of the 737 MAX.” But here’s another Times scribe on Twitter: “Unless he can alter the narrative, one must wonder how Muilenburg will recover from his stumbling performance so far.”

Candid moments: John Hamilton, Boeing’s chief engineer for commercial airplanes, said the company had conducted tests in which an automated flight-control feature called MCAS pushed down the plane’s nose without input from pilots. But it didn’t specifically conduct tests in which a problem with an angle-of-attack sensor caused MCAS (and a number of alerts) to trigger, which is what happened in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. “Which now do you think is wrong?” asked Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the committee’s top Democrat. “In hindsight, senator? Yes,” Hamilton said.

Also in hindsight: Muilenburg was asked why the MAX wasn’t grounded after the Lion Air crash one year ago. “We have asked that question over and over,” he said. “And if we knew everything back then that we know now, we would have made a different decision.”

Our Brianna Gurciullo highlighted four of the toughest exchanges for Boeing. Muilenburg took heat for his answer about instant messages from a top Boeing pilot in 2016, saying he was “made aware” of the document earlier this year but “relied on counsel” to deal with it. “You’re the CEO. The buck stops with you,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) replied. Muilenburg also declined to give specific recommendations on how aircraft certification could be improved and avoided a question about whether Boeing lobbied the U.S. government to keep the planes flying after the second crash. Several senators also said the company had blamed pilots in the immediate aftermath of the accidents — but Muilenburg denied that.

In short: Muilenburg spent his Tuesday getting yelled at by senators, being criticized by pundits, and sitting a few feet away from dozens of people who lost family members in the crashes. He’ll do it all again today, this time with the House Transportation Committee. The hearing starts at 10 a.m.

What to expect today: More of the same but with possibly even more anger and frustration — and a longer time at the witness table. The more than 60 members of the committee could all want to take their five minutes, and some of them — namely Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) — have been among the most strident critics of Boeing in recent months.

In his opening statement, DeFazio will run through a litany of issues with Boeing’s development of the plane and communication with regulators, and he’ll lay out his philosophy for moving forward. “We need answers from you today, Mr. Muilenburg, but more importantly, I believe the 737 MAX accidents show that we need reforms in how commercial aircraft are certified and how manufacturers, like Boeing, are watched and overseen by the regulator,” his prepared remarks read.

Larsen is in an interesting position. His district includes Boeing’s Everett factory, which employs tens of thousands. In a video statement published on Tuesday, he said today’s hearing represents a “new stage” in the committee’s investigation. And he said it’s “undeniable” that the FAA’s aircraft certification process needs to be changed: “I believe we are headed toward necessary reforms in how the FAA will certify commercial airplanes and parts in the future.”

AND A GRILLING FOR TSA: The agency has implemented 60 percent of the requirements under a modernization bill enacted last year, including 72 percent of those with deadlines, acting Deputy Administrator Patricia Cogswell told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. But that’s not enough for Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), who chairs the Transportation and Maritime Security subpanel. Some of the biggest priorities in the law, including providing recommendations for overhauling TSA’s personnel management systems and an assessment of how it might enhance surface transportation security, have yet to be met, Correa said. Our Stephanie Beasley reported for Pros from the hearing.

The California Democrat suggested that unstable leadership at TSA might have contributed to the delays, with Administrator David Pekoske on double duty as acting deputy Homeland Security secretary. But Cogswell, a veteran DHS official, said she’s stepped up: She runs most of the agency’s daily operations and talks to Pekoske multiple times a week.

Precheck lane limitations coming soon: The agency is working to ensure that at least 75 percent of federally regulated airports restrict Precheck lanes to people enrolled in the program. The changes could go into effect as soon as next month, ahead of an April 2020 deadline.

Also during the hearing, GAO Homeland Security and Justice Director William Russell told lawmakers that TSA isn’t ensuring that screening technologies deployed at airports are continuing to function at the same level as when they were initially certified.

WHAT LABOR WANTS IN A SURFACE BILL: The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, a coalition of 32 transportation unions, held an executive committee meeting on Tuesday and summarized its views on the surface transportation legislation under construction in Congress.

The top priority? An injection of money into federal transportation programs, including a gas tax hike and a repeal of the $7.6 billion FAST Act rescission.

The group also wants strong labor protections for new funding and public-private partnerships, as well as for workers in public transportation. And it’s calling for domestic sourcing (Buy America) provisions.

ROSTENKOWSKI BLOCK: Sens. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Doug Jones (D-Ala.) introduced an amendment to the fiscal 2020 transportation appropriations bill that would block the implementation of the so-called Rostenkowski rule, which triggers spending cuts if the amount of unfunded transit authorizations exceed projected Highway Trust Fund receipts for transit for the next four years. The stopgap spending bill in place until Nov. 21 included a measure blocking the Rostenkowski cuts, and the McSally-Jones amendment would keep them at bay.

NO ROOM FOR RAILCARS: The “skinny” version of the defense authorization, unveiled on Tuesday as a Plan B in case lawmakers can’t agree on a more comprehensive bill, would leave out a ban on rolling stock from some Chinese companies. Conferees have been working to resolve differences between the House and Senate defense bills.

DOT AIMS FOR ACCESSIBILITY: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced several new initiatives aimed at boosting transportation accessibility during a summit at DOT on Tuesday, including a $40 million Complete Trip Deployment Program, an inclusive design challenge, and $3.5 million for state transit agencies for a “mobility for all pilot program.”

— “California tech companies unveil gig work ballot initiative.” POLITICO Pro.

— “India’s IndiGo places historic order for 300 Airbus planes.” Reuters.

— “Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot owner PSA in talks to combine.” Wall Street Journal.

— “Small plane crashes, leaving pilot dead, houses ablaze.” Associated Press.

— “Uber sues Los Angeles as the fight over scooter data escalates.” The Verge.

DOT appropriations run out in 23 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,432 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 337 days.





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