Release #: Vol. 84, No. 4
May 01, 2015

Guest Commentary: A Bipartisan Approach to Aviation

By Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.)

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure faces a series of critical issues this year, including the reauthorization of a surface transportation bill, Amtrak, and the Coast Guard. However, one of the biggest issues facing Congress will be reauthorizing the FAA. The current authorization is set to expire in less than six months, and Chairman Bill Shuster has made it his priority to have a transformational bill, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Safety is always the most important issue when it comes to aviation. We live in the safest period in airline history in North America. Nevertheless, we can always do more to improve aviation safety—and we must do more. I intend to include provisions in the upcoming FAA reauthorization to ensure that the FAA continues to set the gold standard internationally when it comes to safety, and will look for ways to strengthen the FAA’s ability to conduct robust and effective oversight of our aviation system.

For example, the FAA is charting new territory in writing rules on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and I intend to ensure that UAS are integrated into the national airspace in a manner that doesn’t compromise the safety of pilots, airline passengers, or those on the ground. Similarly, I have long been concerned about the FAA’s oversight of foreign maintenance facilities that perform work on U.S. airlines; the FAA must ensure that any repair station, whether in the U.S. or overseas, abides by the highest safety standards. These are just two of many opportunities to improve aviation safety in the bill, and I look forward to continuing conversations with pilots and other stakeholders in the coming months.

In addition to enhancing safety, we need to increase investment in our aviation system. According to the FAA, civil aviation generates $1.5 trillion for the U.S. economy, accounts for 11.8 million jobs, and contributes 5.4 percent of the gross domestic product. Moreover, the critical role aviation plays in the U.S. economy will continue to grow. The FAA forecasts long-term aviation growth, including U.S. airline passenger growth, over the next 20 years. Our airports are vital gateways that connect communities across the country and travelers around the globe. Without adequate investment to accommodate this growth, this forecast may result in lost economic opportunities and congestion and delays. It’s critical that we invest in our airports so that they’ll be able to accommodate future increases in travel.

Just as we need to invest in aviation to keep up with domestic growth, we also need to invest to ensure that the U.S. airline industry continues to compete internationally. I recently asked the secretaries of the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and State to investigate state subsidies and other special favors bestowed upon the three largest airlines of the Persian Gulf states of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. I’m concerned that those perks, combined with those carriers’ blatant disregard for fair labor practices, have created an anticompetitive situation that adversely affects U.S. airlines and their stakeholders, including the hundreds of thousands of U.S. airline employees who depend on the industry for stable, long-term employment. Privileges under an Open Skies agreement are not a license to subvert fairness, open competition, or the principles of free markets and fair labor. The U.S. government should use tools available under these agreements to challenge unfair practices and protect American jobs and businesses.

I intend to ensure that our Open Skies policy doesn’t allow carriers like Norwegian Air International that subvert labor laws and outsource pilots and crew to countries with lax labor laws to fly to the U.S. I’m following developments in Norwegian’s pending proceeding before the DOT and continue to urge the administration to make the right decision in that case. I will consider legislation, as well, if necessary.

Over the past few years, Congress has made things very difficult for the FAA. A two-week partial shutdown in 2011, budget sequestration, and a shutdown of the entire government for three weeks in 2013 have created tremendous uncertainty at the agency and have prompted calls for major reform. I understand the frustration of agency employees and stakeholders and am committed to finding solutions.

Chairman Shuster and I are working together, in a bipartisan fashion, to tackle the many critical issues facing our aviation industry. I look forward to working with him and the rest of my colleagues to pass legislation this year that will create and sustain American jobs, drive economic growth, and bring our transportation system into the 21st century. Together, we can lay the groundwork for an aviation network that delivers for generations to come.

This article is from the May 2015 issue of Air Line Pilot magazine, the Official Journal of the Air Line Pilots Association, International—a monthly publication for all ALPA members.

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