[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                  FAA REAUTHORIZATION: NAVIGATING THE 
                  COMPREHENSIVE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE

=======================================================================

                                (118-6)

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                                AVIATION

                                 OF THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
                   TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                             MARCH 23, 2023

                               __________

                       Printed for the use of the
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
             
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]             


     Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-
     transportation?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/
                             transportation
                             
                              __________

                                
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
52-648 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2023                    
          
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             COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

  Sam Graves, Missouri, Chairman
Rick Larsen, Washington,             Eric A. ``Rick'' Crawford, 
  Ranking Member                     Arkansas
Eleanor Holmes Norton,               Daniel Webster, Florida
  District of Columbia               Thomas Massie, Kentucky
Grace F. Napolitano, California      Scott Perry, Pennsylvania
Steve Cohen, Tennessee               Brian Babin, Texas
John Garamendi, California           Garret Graves, Louisiana
Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, Jr.,      Georgiavid Rouzer, North Carolina
Andre Carson, Indiana                Mike Bost, Illinois
Dina Titus, Nevada                   Doug LaMalfa, California
Jared Huffman, California            Bruce Westerman, Arkansas
Julia Brownley, California           Brian J. Mast, Florida
Frederica S. Wilson, Florida         Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon,
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey       Puerto Rico
Mark DeSaulnier, California          Pete Stauber, Minnesota
Salud O. Carbajal, California        Tim Burchett, Tennessee
Greg Stanton, Arizona,               Dusty Johnson, South Dakota
  Vice Ranking Member                Jefferson Van Drew, New Jersey,
Colin Z. Allred, Texas                 Vice Chairman
Sharice Davids, Kansas               Troy E. Nehls, Texas
Jesus G. ``Chuy'' Garcia, Illinois   Lance Gooden, Texas
Chris Pappas, New Hampshire          Tracey Mann, Kansas
Seth Moulton, Massachusetts          Burgess Owens, Utah
Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts      Rudy Yakym III, Indiana
Marilyn Strickland, Washington       Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Oregon
Troy A. Carter, Louisiana            Chuck Edwards, North Carolina
Patrick Ryan, New York               Thomas H. Kean, Jr., New Jersey
Mary Sattler Peltola, Alaska         Anthony D'Esposito, New York
Robert Menendez, New Jersey          Eric Burlison, Missouri
Val T. Hoyle, Oregon                 John James, Michigan
Emilia Strong Sykes, Ohio            Derrick Van Orden, Wisconsin
Hillary J. Scholten, Michigan        Brandon Williams, New York
Valerie P. Foushee, North Carolina   Marcus J. Molinaro, New York
                                     Mike Collins, Georgia
                                     Mike Ezell, Mississippi
                                     John S. Duarte, California
                                     Aaron Bean, Florida

                        Subcommittee on Aviation

Garret Graves, Louisiana, Chairman
Steve Cohen, Tennessee, Ranking Memberric A. ``Rick'' Crawford, 
Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, Jr., Georgiakansas
Andre Carson, Indiana                Thomas Massie, Kentucky
Julia Brownley, California           Scott Perry, Pennsylvania
Mark DeSaulnier, California          Bruce Westerman, Arkansas
Greg Stanton, Arizona                Brian J. Mast, Florida
Colin Z. Allred, Texas               Pete Stauber, Minnesota
Sharice Davids, Kansas               Tim Burchett, Tennessee
Jesus G. ``Chuy'' Garcia, Illinois   Dusty Johnson, South Dakota
Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts      Jefferson Van Drew, New Jersey
Mary Sattler Peltola, Alaska,        Lance Gooden, Texas
  Vice Ranking Member                Tracey Mann, Kansas
Hillary J. Scholten, Michigan        Burgess Owens, Utah
Dina Titus, Nevada                   Rudy Yakym III, Indiana, Vice 
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey     Chairman
Salud O. Carbajal, California        Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Oregon
Robert Menendez, New Jersey          Thomas H. Kean, Jr., New Jersey
Eleanor Holmes Norton,               Anthony D'Esposito, New York
  District of Columbia               John James, Michigan
Frederica S. Wilson, Florida         Marcus J. Molinaro, New York
Rick Larsen, Washington (Ex Officio) Mike Collins, Georgia
                                     Aaron Bean, Florida
                                     Sam Graves, Missouri (Ex Officio)

                               CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

Summary of Subject Matter........................................   vii

                 STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State 
  of Louisiana, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Aviation, opening 
  statement......................................................     1
    Prepared statement...........................................     3
Hon. Steve Cohen, a Representative in Congress from the State of 
  Tennessee, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Aviation, 
  opening statement..............................................     4
    Prepared statement...........................................     6
Hon. Rick Larsen, a Representative in Congress from the State of 
  Washington, and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and 
  Infrastructure, opening statement..............................     7
    Prepared statement...........................................     8

                               WITNESSES

Sharon Pinkerton, Senior Vice President, Legislative and 
  Regulatory Policy, Airlines for America, oral statement........    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    12
Kevin Dolliole, Director of Aviation, Louis Armstrong New Orleans 
  International Airport, on behalf of Airports Council 
  International-North America, oral statement....................    24
    Prepared statement...........................................    25
Rich Santa, President, National Air Traffic Controllers 
  Association, AFL-CIO, oral statement...........................    32
    Prepared statement...........................................    33
Lee Page, Senior Associate Advocacy Director, Paralyzed Veterans 
  of America, oral statement.....................................    38
    Prepared statement...........................................    40

                       SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD

Safety Alert for Operators No. 23002, March 22, 2023, Distributed 
  by Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration, 
  Submitted for the Record by Hon. Rick Larsen...................    51
Introduction and Summary of Report, ``Airport Service Workers 
  Deserve Good Jobs,'' by Karla Walter and Aurelia Glass, Center 
  for American Progress, March 2023, Submitted for the Record by 
  Hon. Jesus G. ``Chuy'' Garcia..................................    63
Letter of March 24, 2023, to Hon. Garret Graves, Chairman, and 
  Hon. Steve Cohen, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Aviation, 
  from Jack Waldorf, Executive Director, Western Governors' 
  Association, Submitted for the Record by Hon. Garret Graves....    91

                                APPENDIX

Questions from Hon. Mark DeSaulnier to Sharon Pinkerton, Senior 
  Vice President, Legislative and Regulatory Policy, Airlines for 
  America........................................................   101

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                             March 20, 2023

    SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER

    TO:      LMembers, Subcommittee on Aviation
    FROM:  LStaff, Subcommittee on Aviation
    RE:      LSubcommittee Hearing on ``FAA Reauthorization: 
Navigating the Comprehensive Passenger Experience''
_______________________________________________________________________


                               I. PURPOSE

    The Subcommittee on Aviation will meet on Thursday, March 
23, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. ET in 2167 of the Rayburn House Office 
Building for a hearing titled, ``FAA Reauthorization: 
Navigating the Comprehensive Passenger Experience.'' The 
hearing will provide a comprehensive assessment of the airline 
passenger experience--analyzing the air transportation system, 
from the time a passenger arrives at the departure airport to 
the time the passenger departs from the destination airport. 
This hearing is in advance of Congress acting to reauthorize 
the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) statutory 
authorities, which expire on October 1, 2023. The Subcommittee 
will receive testimony from witnesses representing Airlines for 
America (A4A), the National Air Traffic Controllers Association 
(NATCA), Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), 
and Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).

                             II. BACKGROUND

    For most commercial airline passengers, the air 
transportation journey often begins at the curb or parking lot 
of the departure airport and ends at the same point at the 
destination airport. During that timeframe, a passenger's 
unique experience is affected by myriad factors and entities 
including, but not limited to, airlines, airports, airport 
contractors and vendors, and air traffic management system and 
operations.
    The COVID-19 pandemic caused major difficulties for the 
entire United States aviation sector. From January 2020 to 
April 2020, airline revenue passenger miles fell by 96 
percent.\1\ Furthermore, passenger enplanements at commercial 
service airports declined by over 50 percent from 2019 to 
2020.\2\ As a result, in January 2021, full-time equivalent 
staffing at U.S. scheduled passenger airlines was at its lowest 
level for the month of January since 2015.\3\ The FAA similarly 
reduced the planned air traffic controller hiring goals for 
2021 from 910 to 500 to account for the historic drop in air 
traffic volume.\4\
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    \1\ Air Passenger Revenue Miles, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 
available at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/AIRRPMTSID11.
    \2\ Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. 
Airports--Previous Years: Enplanements at All Commercial Service 
Airports (by Rank) CY2020, FAA, available at https://www.faa.gov/
airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/previous_
years#2020
    \3\ Press Release. Bureau of Transp. Statistics, Mid-January 2021 
U.S. Passenger Airline Employment Up Nearly 19,000 FTEs from Mid-
December, (Mar. 17, 2021)., available at https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/
mid-january-2021-us-passenger-airline-employment-nearly-19000-ftes-mid-
december.
    \4\ FAA, The Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan 2022-2031 
(2022), available at https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/
2022-afn-cwp.pdf. [hereinafter ATC Workforce Plan]
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    As COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, air carriers 
experienced a greater than anticipated increase in demand for 
air travel, leading to capacity and staffing constraints, 
posing significant operational challenges.\5\ In 2022, more 
than 850 million people travelled on scheduled air carriers, an 
increase of more than 50 percent from 2020.\6\ Consequently, 
from June to August of 2022, more than 2.5 percent of scheduled 
air carrier flights were cancelled and over 22.5 percent were 
delayed by 15 minutes or more.\7\ Additionally, staffing 
shortages at air traffic control facilities, severe weather, 
and pandemic-driven changes in air traffic further contributed 
to the numerous delays and cancellations across the country.\8\ 
In response to the post-pandemic surge in demand, airlines and 
the FAA took action to address hiring needs. United States 
scheduled passenger airline employment levels in December of 
2022 were up 4.3 percent from the same month in 2019.\9\ 
Additionally, the FAA increased its air traffic controller 
hiring target to 1,020 for 2022.\10\
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    \5\ Michael B. Baker, Airlines Prepare for Operational Challenges 
as Demand Rebounds, Business Travel News, (Aug. 4, 2021), available at 
https://www.businesstravelnews.com/Transportation/Air/Airlines-Prepare-
for-Operational-Challenges-as-Demand-Rebounds.
    \6\ Passengers, All Carriers--All Airports, Bureau of Transp. 
Statistics, U.S. Dep't of Transp., available at https://
www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=1. [hereinafter BTS All 
Carriers].
    \7\ Zach Wichter, 45,000+ flights were cancelled this summer. 
Here's what flyers can expect this winter, USA Today, (Nov. 13, 2022), 
available at https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2022/
11/13/flight-cancellations-summer-2022-airline-improvements/
10668152002/.
    \8\ Taylor Rains, Flight cancellations are spiking in part because 
this air traffic control center in Florida is severely understaffed, 
airline group says, Business Insider, (June 24, 2022), available at 
https://www.businessinsider.com/air-traffic-control-staffing-shortage-
causing-flight-cancellations-alpa-2022-6. [hereinafter Business 
Insider].
    \9\ BTS All Carriers, supra note 6.
    \10\ ATC Workforce Plan, supra note 4.
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    Title IV of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-
254) included more than 40 provisions related to improving the 
airline passenger experience.\11\ These provisions include the 
establishment of a consumer complaints hotline, improved access 
to aviation consumer protection information online, the 
creation of an Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of 
Rights, and improvements to the consumer complaint process, 
among other things.\12\ Additionally, the bill required a 
review of causes of airline cancellations, delays, and 
involuntary changes to passenger itineraries; established an 
Aviation Consumer Advocate; and reauthorized the Aviation 
Consumer Protection Advisory Committee.\13\
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    \11\ FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-254, 132 
Stat. 3186.
    \12\ Id.
    \13\ Id.
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                             III. AIRPORTS

    Each year, millions of passengers pass through our Nation's 
airports. The current National Plan of Integrated Airport 
Systems (NPIAS) identifies 3,287 commercial service and general 
aviation airports which are significant to national air 
transportation and thus eligible to receive Federal grants 
under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP).\14\ It also 
estimates the amount of funding needed to complete 
infrastructure development projects needed to bring these 
airports up to current design standards or add capacity at 
congested airports.\15\ The current NPIAS estimates there was 
$62.4 billion in AIP-eligible projects between 2017 and 
2021.\16\ The NPIAS also estimates that 11 airports are 
expected to be runway capacity constrained by 2026, increasing 
to 14 by 2031, and an additional 16 airports at risk of 
significant congestion by 2031.\17\
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    \14\ Nat'l Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) 2023-2027, 
FAA (Sept. 30, 2022), available at https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/
files/npias-2023-2027-narrative.pdf. [hereinafter NPIAS].
    \15\ National Plan on Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), FAA, 
available at https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias.
    \16\ NPIAS, supra note 14.
    \17\ Id.
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    Airports included in the NPIAS are distinguished by two 
categories: primary and nonprimary.\18\ There are 383 airports 
in the NPIAS classified as primary airports--supporting 
scheduled commercial air service at a certain volume--and 2,904 
non-primary airports--supporting low-level commercial service 
and general aviation operations.\19\
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    \18\ Id.
    \19\ Id.
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AIRPORT REVENUE

    To finance daily operations, airports generate and rely on 
both aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue.\20\ The primary 
sources of aeronautical, or airside, revenue are various fees 
paid by airlines and other airport users for the lease of 
terminal space, landing fees, and use of other airport 
facilities, such as jet bridges. Non-aeronautical, or landside, 
revenue sources include airport terminal concessions, parking, 
rental car operations, and rental fees.
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    \20\ Financing Airport Improvements, Cong. Research Serv., (R43327) 
(Updated Mar. 15, 2019) available at https://crsreports.congress.gov/
product/pdf/R/R43327/18.
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AIRPORT CAPITAL

    To finance capital needs, airports use a combination of 
Federal grants, Federally-authorized local airport charges, 
state and local grants, and airport revenues. The primary 
Federal grant funding for airport development and planning is 
the AIP. AIP funds are primarily used for improvements related 
to enhancing airport safety, capacity, and security, and 
mitigating environmental concerns. Airport sponsors can also 
use AIP funds, in most cases, on airfield capital improvements 
or repairs and, in some specific situations, for terminals and 
hangars.\21\ The AIP is currently authorized at its FY2012 
level of $3.35 billion.\22\ Prior to 2012, the last major 
increase to AIP authorization amounts occurred in FY2001, 
increasing from $2.475 billion to $3.2 billion.\23\
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    \21\ Overview: What is AIP & What is Eligible?, FAA, available at 
https://www.faa.gov/airports/aip/overview.
    \22\ 49 U.S.C. Sec.  48103.
    \23\ Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 
21st Century, Pub. L. No. 106-181, 114 Stat. 61. [hereinafter 21st 
Century].
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    Because the AIP does not cover all airport capital needs, 
Congress has authorized airports to collect a fee from 
passengers called the passenger facility charge (PFC). A PFC is 
approved by the Federal government, collected by the airlines, 
and paid directly to the airport without going through the 
Federal Treasury. The PFC is intended to supplement, not 
replace, AIP funds. Airports can use PFCs to build critical 
infrastructure projects at their facilities.\24\ However, 
unlike AIP funds, airports can use PFC revenue for gates, 
airline ticket areas, and debt service on bonds that airports 
issue to finance airport infrastructure projects.\25\ In 2021, 
the FAA estimated that airports collected approximately $2.5 
billion from PFCs.\26\ Airports may impose a maximum $4.50 PFC 
on enplaning passengers, up to a maximum of $18 on a roundtrip 
ticket.\27\ The PFC is not indexed to the cost of inflation, 
and Congress has not increased the cap on the PFC since 
2000.\28\
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    \24\ 14 C.F.R. Sec.  158 (2023).
    \25\ Id.
    \26\ Key Passenger Facility Charge Statistics, FAA, available at 
https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/stats.pdf.
    \27\ 49 U.S.C. Sec.  40117(e)(2).
    \28\ 21st Century, supra note 23.
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                     IV. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC)

    One of the least visible, but most impactful, functions of 
the FAA is the operation of the air traffic control (ATC) 
system. The FAA provides ATC services in the United States 
airspace and vast areas of international airspace over the Gulf 
of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. FAA's Air Traffic 
Organization (ATO) is responsible for managing the air traffic 
system and its operations, consisting of more than 14,000 air 
traffic controllers, 21 Air Route Traffic Control Centers, 147 
Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities, and 520 airport 
traffic control towers.\29\
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    \29\ Air Traffic by The Numbers, FAA, available at https://
www.faa.gov/air_traffic/by_the_numbers.
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    The 5,300,000 square miles of United States domestic 
airspace makes it the largest and most complex airspace in the 
world.\30\ Air traffic controllers provide air traffic services 
to 45,000 daily flights on average and assist roughly 5,400 
aircraft at one time during peak operational hours.\31\ A 
reliable and efficient air traffic control system is vital to 
the aviation industry and provides necessary navigation 
services to ensure passengers arrive at their destinations 
safely and on time. Any disruption to the ATC system could mean 
widespread flight delays, passengers sitting in an aircraft at 
the gate or on the tarmac, or aircraft forced to hold or 
slowdown en route to their destination.
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    \30\ Air Traffic, FAA, available at https://www.faa.gov/
air_traffic.
    \31\ Id.
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AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER STAFFING

    The FAA's mission is to provide the safest and most 
efficient aerospace system in the world.\32\ To this goal, the 
FAA uses dynamic staffing to align air traffic controller 
resources with demand.\33\ At the onset of the COVID-19 
pandemic, decreased demand for air travel led to the 
elimination or reduction of activities at ATC facilities.\34\ 
For example, ATO's controller hiring goals for 2021 were 
reduced to account for decreased air travel demand.\35\ 
Additionally, ATO shuttered its training academy due to the 
pandemic.\36\ Consequently, as demand for air travel increased 
post-pandemic, ATO struggled with staffing shortages at 
critical facilities, causing airline cancellations and 
delays.\37\ With air travel demand forecasted to surpass pre-
pandemic levels by 2024, scrutiny on controller staffing 
efforts is needed.\38\
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    \32\ Mission, FAA, available at https://www.faa.gov/about/mission.
    \33\ ATC Workforce Plan, supra note 4.
    \34\ Id.
    \35\ Id.
    \36\ Eric Katz, FAA-Caused Flight Delays in New York Preview 
Potential `Crisis' in Coming Years, Gov't Exec., (Aug. 16, 2022), 
available at https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2022/08/faa-caused-
flight-delays-new-york-preview-potential-crisis-coming-years/375914/.
    \37\ Id.
    \38\ FAA, FAA Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2022-2024 (2022), 
available at https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2022-06/
FY2022_42_FAA_Aerospace_Forecast.pdf.
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    In the 2022 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, the FAA 
nearly doubled its hiring goals compared to 2021 to match the 
increase in air travel demand.\39\ However, the process of 
hiring and adequately training an air traffic controller is a 
lengthy process, often taking over a year to complete.\40\ 
Furthermore, controller staffing has not kept up with 
attrition, as the FAA presently has 1,000 less controllers than 
it did ten years ago.\41\ This has led to staffing shortages at 
various vital Air Route Traffic Control Centers.\42\
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    \39\ ATC Workforce Plan, supra note 4.
    \40\ Air Traffic Controllers, How to Become an Air Traffic 
Controller, Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at https://
www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/air-traffic-
controllers.htm#tab-4.
    \41\ FAA Must Report Air Traffic Controller Staffing Accurately in 
Controller Workforce Plan, Transp. Trades Dep't (Nov. 10, 2022), 
available at https://ttd.org/policy/faa-must-report-air-traffic-
controller-staffing-accurately-in-controller-workforce-plan/.
    \42\ Business Insider, supra note 8.
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    Finally, while the FAA is seeking to increase staffing 
numbers in ATC centers, its Air Traffic Control Workforce Plan 
counts newly hired and untrained air traffic controllers in its 
overall workforce numbers.\43\ This gives the appearance that a 
facility is within its staffing range when, in fact, the 
facility would be below its staffing range if such trainees--
who have never been certified and cannot perform the requisite 
duties--are excluded.\44\ This creates uncertainty and 
confusion in the overall air traffic controller workforce, 
decreases the FAA's awareness of such issues, and weakens the 
FAA's ability to meet operational needs.
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    \43\ ATC Workforce Plan, supra note 4.
    \44\ Id.
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NOTICE TO AIR MISSIONS (NOTAM)

    A NOTAM is a notice to pilots, flight crews, and other 
personnel essential to flight operations regarding 
abnormalities or status updates in the National Airspace System 
(NAS).\45\ The NOTAM system is vital to users of the NAS, as it 
delivers information necessary for safe flight operations.\46\ 
For instance, a NOTAM may alert pilots and flight crews of a 
closed runway, temporary airspace restrictions, or inoperable 
navigation aids. On January 11, 2023, the FAA issued the first 
nationwide ground stop of all aircraft since September 11, 
2001, due to an outage of the NOTAM system caused by an 
unintentionally deleted database file in the system.\47\ This 
90-minute outage caused thousands of commercial airline delays 
and cancellations around the country, with several major 
airlines reporting 40 percent or more delays and cancellations 
of scheduled flights.\48\
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    \45\ What is a NOTAM?, FAA, available at https://www.faa.gov/about/
initiatives/notam/what_is_a_notam.
    \46\ NOTAM Modernization, FAA, available at https://www.faa.gov/
about/initiatives/notam.
    \47\ Press Release, FAA, FAA NOTAM Statement (Jan. 19, 2023), 
available at https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-notam-statement.
    \48\ David Shepardson, Rajesh Kumar Singh & Abhijith Ganapavaram, 
Airlines hope for return to normal Thursday after FAA outage snarls 
U.S. travel, Reuters, (Jan. 11, 2023), available at https://
www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-faa-says-flight-
personnel-alert-system-not-processing-updates-after-outage-2023-01-11/.
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    On January 13, 2023, Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member 
Rick Larsen, along with 120 other Members of Congress, wrote to 
Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg 
seeking answers on the NOTAM outage.\49\ The letter noted FAA's 
awareness of the persistent problems facing the NOTAM system 
and expressed concern with FAA's apparent issues managing the 
agency's ATC legacy systems.\50\
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    \49\ Letter from Sam Graves, Chairman, and Rick Larsen, Ranking 
Member, H. Comm. on Transp. and Infrastructure to Secretary Pete 
Buttigieg (Jan. 13, 2023), available at https://
transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2023-01-13_-
_letter_to_dot_on_notam_system_
outage_final.pdf.
    \50\ Id.
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    On January 25, 2023, the House passed H.R. 346, the NOTAM 
Improvement Act of 2023, by a vote of 424-4. This legislation 
directed the FAA to establish a task force--composed of 
representatives from airlines, airports, aviation safety 
experts, and aviation labor unions, among others--to review the 
existing NOTAM system and make recommendations to improve the 
presentation of information and the system's resiliency and 
cybersecurity.\51\
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    \51\ NOTAM Improvement Act of 2023, H.R. 346, 118th Cong. (2023).
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    The underlying issues which led to the temporary failure of 
the NOTAM system are indicative of an aging technology system 
that requires constant maintenance and replacement. It consists 
of thousands of pieces of hardware and software which have been 
built up over decades of operations. The FAA has struggled to 
keep up with the maintenance of these technology systems, 
resulting in poor performance and disruptions.\52\
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    \52\ Niraj Chokshi and Mark Walker, F.A.A. Outage Highlights 
Fragility of the Aviation System, N.Y. Times, (Jan. 11, 2023), 
available at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/business/faa-flight-
delays-outage.html.
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NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (NEXTGEN)

    In the early 2000s, Congress began directing the FAA to 
undertake a series of initiatives, known as ``NextGen,'' to 
revamp the Nation's ATC system in order to meet anticipated 
growth in air traffic.\53\ The goal of NextGen is to transition 
the system from reliance on ground-based navigation and 
surveillance systems to a satellite-based system to increase 
the efficiency, capacity, and flexibility of our airspace. 
Specifically, NextGen initiatives are expected to reduce the 
required separation between aircraft, result in more efficient 
routes, and decrease congestion. Together, these initiatives 
are intended to provide a better experience for the travelling 
public.\54\ Presently, NextGen efforts include specific 
programs to realize these benefits, including Automatic 
Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), System-Wide 
Information Management (SWIM), and Data Communications (Data 
Comm).
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    \53\ Next Generation Air Transport System (NextGen), FAA, available 
at https://www.faa.gov/nextgen.
    \54\ FAA, The Economic Impact of Civil Aviation on the U.S. Economy 
(Nov. 2016) available at https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/
media/2016-economic-impact-report_FINAL.pdf.
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    The goal at the inception of NextGen was to transform the 
NAS by 2025.\55\ However, NextGen programs have been vulnerable 
to delays and cost-overruns.\56\ According to a November 2016 
GAO report, six NextGen activities with completion dates in 
2025 have been delayed to 2030.\57\ Although anticipated costs 
for NextGen programs have fallen back in line with original 
estimates, challenges remain for the FAA's continued 
implementation, including the uncertainty of future funding, 
aircraft owners' equipage capabilities to fully utilize NextGen 
improvements, the instability of FAA' leadership and 
cybersecurity issues.\58\
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    \55\ Id.
    \56\ U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., GAO-17-241R, Next Generation 
Air Transp. System: Information on Expenditures, Schedule, and Cost 
Estimates, Fiscal Years 2004-2030 (2016).
    \57\ Id.
    \58\ U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., GAO-17-450, Air Traffic 
Control Modernization: Progress and Challenges in Implementing NextGen 
(2017).
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EN ROUTE AUTOMATION MODERNIZATION (ERAM)

    The ERAM program is foundational to the FAA's NextGen 
initiative.\59\ Focused on modernizing computer systems to 
improve flight tracking and management, ERAM provides real-time 
air traffic management and information-sharing for pilots, 
allowing better flight planning.\60\ For controllers, ERAM 
enables them to handle air traffic more accurately and 
efficiently and increase the amount of flights which can be 
tracked.\61\ However, since its completion, ERAM has 
experienced numerous outages, causing thousands of flight 
delays and cancellations.\62\ Most recently on January 2, 2023, 
an issue with the ERAM system at Miami Air Route Traffic 
Control Center caused hundreds of delays at Florida airports 
for several hours.\63\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \59\ En route Automation Modernization (ERAM), FAA, available at 
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/eram.
    \60\ Id.
    \61\ Id.
    \62\ U.S. DOT Off. of Inspector Gen., Report No. AV2019004, FAA Has 
Taken Steps To Address ERAM Outages, But Some Vulnerabilities Remain 
(2018).
    \63\ Hours-long flight delays at Florida airports caused by FAA air 
traffic control issue, CBS Miami, (Jan. 2, 2023), available at https://
www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/faa-slows-air-traffic-into-florida-due-to-
computer-issue/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            V. AIR CARRIERS

    The air transportation industry includes major airlines, 
regional airlines, all-cargo airlines, and charter operators 
that serve the widely varying needs of American consumers and 
businesses. In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 was 
signed into law.\64\ The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 made 
fundamental changes to the Federal Government's oversight and 
regulation of the airline industry. Prior to 1978, the Federal 
Government was authorized to closely regulate air carriers and 
control, among other things, routes, rates, and service.\65\ 
Since enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, 
airfares fell dramatically in real terms.\66\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \64\ Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-1779, 92 
Stat. 1705.
    \65\ Airline Deregulation Act of 1978: Preemption of State Consumer 
Protection Laws, Cong. Research Serv. (LSB10925) (Mar. 1, 2023) 
available at https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10925.
    \66\ Derek Thompson, How Airline Ticket Prices Fell 50 Percent in 
30 Years (and Why Nobody Noticed), The Atlantic. (Feb. 23, 2013), 
available at https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/how-
airline-ticket-prices-fell-50-in-30-years-and-why-nobody-noticed/
273506/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 1992, the United States entered its first ``Open Skies'' 
agreement which eliminated most governmental limits on 
international services. Since that time, the United States has 
entered Open Skies agreements with over 100 countries around 
the world.\67\ Major United States passenger airlines often 
partner with other airlines to complement their services. 
Domestically, they partner with regional airlines operating 
smaller aircraft to fly routes or during times-of-day that 
cannot be economically served with other, larger aircraft. 
Internationally, airlines also form alliances with foreign 
airlines to mutually expand the reach of their global networks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \67\ Open Skies Agreements Currently Being Applied, U.S. DOT, 
available at https://www.transportation.gov/policy/aviation-policy/
open-skies-agreements-being-applied.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOT CONSUMER PROTECTION

    The DOT is responsible for executing and enforcing airline 
consumer laws established by Congress, as well as developing 
regulations based on its existing statutory authority.\68\ The 
DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection is the primary 
entity tasked with monitoring and enforcing violations of 
aviation consumer protection and civil rights, reviewing and 
responding to aviation consumer complaints, and establishing 
aviation consumer protection and civil rights regulations.\69\ 
For instance, the office is responsible for the implementation 
and enforcement of regulations prohibiting discrimination 
against passengers with disabilities.\70\ The office's primary 
responsibilities include investigating disability-related 
complaints against airlines and promoting awareness of 
passenger rights through public education, among other 
efforts.\71\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \68\ Airline Passenger Rights: The Federal Role in Aviation 
Consumer Protection, Cong. Research Serv. (R43078) (Updated Aug. 17, 
2016). [hereinafter CRS: Federal Role].
    \69\ About Us, Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, U.S. DOT, 
available at https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/about-us.
    \70\ U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., GAO-21-354, Passengers With 
Disabilities: Airport Accessibility Barriers and Practices and DOT's 
Oversight of Airlines' Disability-Related Training (Apr. 2021).
    \71\ Id. at 18.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 eliminated Federal 
control over several airline business practices--chief among 
them pricing and domestic route selection.\72\ However, the 
Secretary of Transportation has statutory authority to 
investigate and decide whether an air carrier is engaged in an 
``unfair or deceptive practice.'' \73\ The interpretation of 
``unfair and deceptive'' can significantly affect the scope of 
DOT's enforcement authority as such terms are not defined in 
statute.\74\ In December of 2020, the DOT issued a final rule 
codifying its interpretation of ``unfair'' and ``deceptive'' to 
provide certainty in the Department's aviation consumer 
protection rulemaking and enforcement actions.\75\ In response 
to Executive Order 14036, the DOT published a guidance document 
to provide further interpretation of ``unfair'' and 
``deceptive'' in August of 2022.\76\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \72\ CRS: Federal Role, supra note 68.
    \73\ 49 U.S.C. Sec.  41712.
    \74\ CRS: Federal Role, supra note 68.
    \75\ 14 C.F.R. Sec.  399 (2020).
    \76\ Exec. Order No. 14036, 86 Fed. Reg. 36987, (Jul. 9, 2021), 
available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/07/14/2021-
15069/promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy; see also Guidance 
Regarding Interpretation of Unfair and Deceptive Practices, 87 Fed. 
Reg. 52,677 (Aug. 29, 2022) (to be codified at 14 C.F.R. pt. 399).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

AIR CARRIER CONSUMER COMPLAINTS

    As air travel has increased post-pandemic, so have air 
travel consumer complaints. Passengers filed 5,379 consumer 
complaints for United States scheduled air carriers in October 
2022.\77\ This represents a 370 percent increase from pre-
pandemic levels in October 2019.\78\ Consumer complaints are 
classified in various categories. These categories include 
reservations, ticketing, boarding, fares, refunds, baggage, 
customer service, disability, discrimination, and flight 
problems such as cancellations and delays.\79\ In November 
2022, the DOT received a total of 166 disability-related 
complaints, down from 206 in October 2022, but significantly up 
from 66 received pre-pandemic in November 2019.\80\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \77\ U.S. DOT, Off. of Aviation Consumer Protection, Air Travel 
Consumer Rep. (Dec. 2022), available at https://www.transportation.gov/
sites/dot.gov/files/2023-01/December%202022%20ATCR.pdf.
    \78\ Press Release, Bureau of Transp. Statistics, Air Travel 
Consumer Report: October Consumer Complaints Down 12% from September, 
Yet Remain Three Times Higher Than Pre-Pandemic Levels (Jan. 10, 2023), 
available at https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/air-travel-consumer-report-
october-consumer-complaints-down-12-september-yet-remain-three.
    \79\ U.S. DOT, Off. of Aviation Consumer Protection, Air Travel 
Consumer Rep. (Jan. 2023), available at https://www.transportation.gov/
sites/dot.gov/files/2023-02/January%202023%20ATCR.pdf. [hereinafter 
BTS, Jan. 2023].
    \80\ U.S. DOT, Air Travel Consumer Report: November Consumer 
Complaints Increase From October, (Feb. 2022), available at https://
www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/air-travel-consumer-report-
november-consumer-complaints-increase-october
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS

    The on-time arrival rate for U.S. scheduled air carriers 
from January to November 2022 was 77.4 percent.\81\ This is 
down from the 79 percent rate for pre-pandemic 2019.\82\ Delays 
and cancellations are classified in different categories based 
on cause. For example, in November 2022, 6.79 percent of 
flights were delayed due to circumstances within the airline's 
control. On the contrary, 5.12 percent of delays were due to 
NAS delays, which include non-extreme weather conditions, 
airport operations, heavy traffic volume or air traffic 
control.\83\ Other categories of cancellations and delays 
include extreme weather delays, late arriving aircraft delays, 
and security delays.\84\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \81\ Press Release, Bureau of Transp. Statistics, Air Travel 
Consumer Report: November Consumer Complaints Increase from October 
(Feb. 7, 2023), available at https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/air-travel-
consumer-report-november-consumer-complaints-increase-october.
    \82\ U.S. DOT, Off. of Aviation Consumer Protection, Air Travel 
Consumer Rep. (Feb. 2020), available at https://www.transportation.gov/
sites/dot.gov/files/2020-02/February%202020%20ATCR.pdf.
    \83\ BTS, Jan. 2023, supra note 79.
    \84\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             VI. WITNESSES

     LMs. Sharon Pinkerton, Senior Vice President, 
Legislative and Regulatory Policy, Airlines for America
     LMr. Kevin Dolliole, Director of Aviation, Louis 
Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, on behalf of the 
Airports Council International-North America
     LMr. Rich Santa, President, National Air Traffic 
Controllers Association
     LMr. Lee Page, Senior Associate Advocacy Director, 
Paralyzed Veterans of America

 
 FAA REAUTHORIZATION: NAVIGATING THE COMPREHENSIVE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE

                              ----------                              


                        THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2023

                  House of Representatives,
                          Subcommittee on Aviation,
            Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m. in 
room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Garret Graves 
(Chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. The Subcommittee on Aviation will 
come to order.
    I ask unanimous consent that the chairman may be authorized 
to declare a recess at any time for today's hearing.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    I also ask unanimous consent that Members not on the 
subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at 
today's hearing and ask questions.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    As a reminder, if Members wish to insert a document in the 
record, please also email it to [email protected].
    I now recognize myself for the purposes of an opening 
statement for 5 minutes.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GARRET GRAVES OF LOUISIANA, CHAIRMAN, 
                    SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION

    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. First, I want to thank our 
witnesses for being here today.
    The aviation industry has experienced extraordinary 
volatility over the last few years. To put things in 
perspective, air passenger revenue-miles dropped 96 percent 
from January 2020 until April of 2020. The FAA, recognizing the 
incredible changes in the aviation sector, actually cut by half 
their goals for controller hiring in 2021. But just as quickly 
as the pandemic caused a massive drop in aviation travel, we 
similarly saw a surge in aviation travel and airline travel 
after the pandemic began to wane.
    Even before the pandemic happened, I often spoke to 
families, including my own, that I think saw air travel as a 
tense experience, thinking about packing up the kids, thinking 
about driving to the airport, parking, trying to get your 
luggage over to the airport, trying to check in your bags, 
getting through security with kids, and the entire experience 
from one curb to the other curb, dealing with the crowds, the 
changes in the hours or the flight times and services.
    I remember being in the Atlanta airport in one of the 
busiest concourses, and there literally were two retailers that 
were open. It is absolutely amazing. Delayed bags, the list 
goes on and on. And this doesn't even come close to the 
challenging situations that passengers with disabilities 
experience when going through air travel.
    All we know when we find out that there are problems is 
that usually you get some alert on your phone, or there is a 
notice on the screen that pops up and says things are delayed, 
and you don't have any idea why that happened. Was there a dog 
on the runway? Is there air traffic congestion? Is there once 
again a NOTAM system that went down? Are there equipment 
issues? We don't have any idea. All we know is that there are 
delays, and that experience causes extraordinary pressure, 
frustration, and anxiety.
    Now, look, you look back over the past several years, and 
you look at what airlines have done with technology. I have got 
an app for the airlines that I fly on. I can figure out exactly 
where my seat is. I can change my seat. I can figure out what 
gate I am going to. If there is a gate change, I can pull up a 
map and figure out how to get to the other gate. The 
convenience of that technology has been extraordinary. But that 
really is one of the few technological advances that has really 
improved the convenience of that overall experience.
    And so, what we want to talk about at this hearing today as 
we approach the FAA reauthorization bill this year: How can we 
look from curb to curb at every single one of those stovepipe 
systems that we go through? Whether it is security, whether it 
is the airport, whether it is parking, whether it is baggage 
claim, whether it is air traffic control, how can we 
thematically improve the convenience, improve that overall 
experience for air travelers? That is really what we want to 
focus on today--I will say it again--from curb to curb.
    We saw over the last several months where we had major 
disruptions in air travel. And again, the NOTAM system went 
down, the Notice to Air Missions, a system that most people 
probably didn't even know existed. In other instances, we may 
have something going on with weather. Again, you may have air 
traffic control issues, and we don't know why. We have got to 
improve the technology, and we have got to improve the 
transparency behind that so travelers better understand, can 
better predict what is actually going to happen in their air 
travel experience.
    Now, in the last FAA bill, Congress included over 40 
provisions trying to improve and address the consumer 
experience, everything from review of causes of airline delays, 
addressing involuntary schedule changes, establishing an 
airline consumer advocate, and improving the consumer complaint 
process. There were also 12 provisions, many of which I know 
were advocated for by my friend here, to support passengers 
with disabilities.
    And as a result of some of those changes, and as a result 
of data collection, we actually had a 370-percent increase in 
consumer complaints between October 22 from the same month of 
2019, a 370-percent increase.
    Look, airlines are a deregulated industry, and consumers 
have choice. I think it is our job to help to preserve the 
choice that consumers have, ensuring that passengers can choose 
between the various airlines, the various airports, the various 
options. We have an obligation, I think, to ensure that the 
Government's role in this--the PreCheck, the TSA, going through 
security, and the air traffic control experience--advances in 
technology and conveniences just as much as every other sector. 
Otherwise, that one weak link in the chain is going to cause an 
adverse experience in air travel.
    So, I will say it again. I want to thank you all for being 
here. I look forward to hearing from your individual 
perspectives about what we can do to improve this overall 
experience for passengers as we craft the next FAA 
reauthorization bill.
    [Mr. Graves of Louisiana's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
   Prepared Statement of Hon. Garret Graves of Louisiana, Chairman, 
                        Subcommittee on Aviation
    I want to thank our witnesses for being here today.
    The aviation industry has experienced extraordinary volatility over 
the last few years. To put things in perspective, air passenger revenue 
miles dropped 96 percent between January 2020 and April of 2020. 
Meanwhile, the FAA, recognizing the incredible changes in the aviation 
sector, cut their hiring benchmark for air traffic controllers by half.
    And just as quickly as the pandemic caused that massive drop in air 
travel, we saw a surge in demand as the pandemic began to wane last 
summer.
    But even before the pandemic happened, I often spoke to families--
including my own--that saw air travel as a tense experience: Packing up 
the kids; driving to the airport; parking; moving your luggage over to 
the airport; checking your bags; getting the whole family together 
through security in one piece, and then hoping you have enough time to 
grab a cup of coffee before your flight. It's the entire experience 
from the curb of your home airport to the other curb of your 
destination and dealing with the crowds, unpredictable service hours, 
security lines, and sometimes fluid flight times. This doesn't even 
come close to the challenging situations that passengers with 
disabilities experience when going through air travel.
    We usually just find out about problems when we get an alert on our 
phones. There's a notice on the screen that pops up and says, 
``delayed.'' But you don't have any idea why that happened. Was there a 
dog on the runway? Is there too much air traffic congestion? Are there 
equipment issues? A huge storm? The passenger doesn't have any idea. 
All we know is that we aren't getting to our destination on time, and 
that experience causes extraordinary pressure, frustration, and 
anxiety.
    If you look back over the past several years, you can see what 
airlines have done with technology. I've got an app for the airlines 
that I fly on--I can figure out exactly where my seat is, I can change 
my seat, I can figure out what gate I'm going to. If there's a gate 
change, I can pull up a map and figure out how to get to the other 
gate. The convenience of that technology has been extraordinary.
    But that is one of the few technological advances that has really 
improved the convenience of that overall experience for passengers.
    And so, what we want to talk about at this hearing today as we 
approach the FAA reauthorization bill this year is--how can we look at 
this experience from curb to curb?
    Every single one of those stove pipe systems that we go through--
whether it's security, the airport, parking, the baggage claim, or air 
traffic control--how can we thematically improve the convenience or 
improve that overall experience for air travelers?
    We have seen remarkable disruptions in the National Airspace over 
the past few months. For example, when the NOTAM system went down--a 
system that most people probably didn't even know existed. We have also 
seen major weather systems disruptions as well as delays associated 
with the fact that there weren't enough air traffic controllers to 
safely shepherd the expected number of flights through the NAS.
    We've got to improve the technology, and we've got to improve the 
transparency behind that, so travelers better understand and predict 
what's actually going to happen in their air travel experience.
    In the last FAA bill, Congress included over 40 provisions to 
improve and address the consumer experience--everything from a review 
of causes of airline delays, addressing involuntary schedule changes, 
establishing an Airline Consumer Advocate, and improving the consumer 
complaint process. And an additional 12 provisions to support 
passengers with disabilities.
    Look, airlines are a deregulated industry and consumers have 
choice. It's our job to help to preserve the choice that consumers have 
and ensure that passengers can choose between the various airlines, 
airports, and options.
    We have an obligation to ensure that the government's role in 
this--pre-check, TSA, security, and air traffic control experience--
advances in technology and conveniences just as much as every other 
sector. Otherwise, that one weak link in the chain is going to cause an 
adverse experience in air travel.
    I want to thank you all for being here. I look forward to hearing 
your individual perspectives about what we can do to improve this 
overall experience for passengers as we craft the next FAA 
reauthorization bill.

    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, and I yield 5 minutes 
to the ranking member of the subcommittee, Mr. Cohen.

  OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE COHEN OF TENNESSEE, RANKING 
                MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION

    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your opening 
remarks, which encompass much of what we need to do, and are 
also in my opening remarks.
    This is our third hearing on the FAA reauthorization. I 
appreciate the subcommittee's attention and prioritization of 
the passenger experience.
    As Mr. Graves mentioned, the 2018 FAA reauthorization 
included more than 40 provisions to improve the airline 
passenger experience. We established a consumer complaints 
hotline; created an Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill 
of Rights; and required the review of airline cancellations, 
delays, and involuntary changes to passenger itineraries.
    We also included my bill that I have been working on for a 
long time, the SEAT Act, which required the FAA to establish 
minimum dimensions for passenger seats on airplanes for safety. 
And the FAA never got around to doing it. They did get around 
to doing it, but after about 2 years, and they didn't have a 
proper study or sample.
    So, it is very disappointing, as a person whose life has 
been spent in Government and thinking Government can make a 
difference, and a good difference in people's lives, and 
particularly consumers, to see the FAA just neglect to do what 
they are instructed to do by law, and that was to carry out 
this study. And it should have been a study with a sample that 
was reflective of the flying public, which it wasn't. There 
were no young kids, there were no people over 65, there were no 
people with disabilities, nobody with a dog, nobody with a bad 
day, anything. It was just terrible.
    But we need to see to it the FAA follows what they are 
supposed to be doing, and follow up on that. I'm afraid that we 
will continue to see airline seats shrink. Not everybody is 
like JetBlue and increases the size of their seats, and they do 
a good job with that, I believe.
    While the 2018 law made incremental progress that will be 
made resoundingly clear today, there is much more work to be 
done to enhance the passenger experience, particularly those 
with disabilities. On the increase, Mr. Graves said, it was 
like 300 percent in complaints for people with disabilities. 
And we can't forget Mr. Langevin, who was a star on this issue 
and brought it to our attention on more occasions than not. 
People with disabilities fly, and they should have the same 
rights as anybody else and be treated properly.
    Some of the problems are maybe staffing, and there are 
problems with the air traffic controllers with staffing, I 
think. There are problems with the airlines with staffing, 
because a lot of people during the pandemic decided, ``I am 
sick of this job, I am tired of it, and I am going to have a 
better life,'' and they just quit their jobs. So, we have got 
some people out.
    Mr. Collins has got a good bill, I think. I haven't studied 
it in detail, but at first blush it looked good, and the first 
blush was good enough for me to cosponsor it. And it will give 
people more opportunity to use moneys that have been put away 
in accounts to further their educational opportunities, but 
allow them to go into trades like the airline industry. And 
that will help us, if we get these people trained and an 
opportunity to go to work in these industries, which is most 
important. So, thank you, Mr. Collins. That is a good bill.
    I also worked with Tammy Duckworth, chair of the Senate 
Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation, on 
multiple bills to prioritize accountability and accessibility 
for aviation consumers, and empower passengers to use mobility 
aids such as manual or powered wheelchairs.
    With the rebound in demand, we are seeing increased 
cancellations and delays by airlines. I was on a flight to 
Phoenix on Thursday, and we sat on the tarmac in Memphis for 
about 20 minutes, and the pilot told us he was doing paperwork. 
And then, after he got started up, he said, ``Well, we have 
completed our maintenance work.'' I don't know what was going 
on, but it didn't make much sense.
    We had the highest cancellation rate in a decade in 2022, 
and the on-time arrival rate decreased by 77 percent. Consumers 
whose flights are canceled or delayed should not be forced to 
jump through hoops to claim their rightful cash refund, and 
that is why I am working with Senators Markey and Blumenthal on 
Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act to restore fairness 
and accountability to Americans' air travel experience.
    We are also being outpaced by increasing infrastructure 
needs at our airports. We have made progress, but we need to 
help our airports have the moneys they need to have the type of 
airports we deserve in the 21st century. We had, in its first 2 
years, a program that we passed through the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law, the Airport Terminal Program, that awarded 
almost $2 billion to airports across the country. That 
bipartisan bill was so important to many airports, and Memphis 
International Airport got $14 million, which is much 
appreciated and much needed.
    There is more work to be done. We hope to be able to 
continue to meet infrastructure and passenger expectations and 
needs. And with that, I look forward to hearing from our 
esteemed witnesses and welcome the opportunity to work with 
these people.
    [Mr. Cohen's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
 Prepared Statement of Hon. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Ranking Member, 
                        Subcommittee on Aviation
    As we kick off our third FAA reauthorization hearing, I appreciate 
the Subcommittee's attention and prioritization of the passenger 
experience.
    The 2018 FAA reauthorization law included more than 40 provisions 
to improve the airline passenger experience.
    We established a consumer complaints hotline, created an Airline 
Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights, and required the review of 
airline cancellations, delays and involuntary changes to passenger 
itineraries.
    We also included my bill, the SEAT Act, which required the FAA to 
establish minimum dimensions for passenger seats on airplanes to 
protect the safety of the flying public.
    To date, the FAA has still not promulgated its final rule, and I 
remain concerned that we will continue to see airline seats shrink to 
all passengers' detriment.
    While the 2018 FAA law made some incremental progress, I believe it 
will be made resoundingly clear today that there is much more work to 
be done to enhance the passenger experience, particularly for those 
with disabilities.
    Approximately 27 million passengers with disabilities travel by 
air, and yet more than three decades after the Americans with 
Disabilities Act and the Air Carrier Access Act were signed into law, 
air travel continues to be riddled with unnecessary obstacles, 
challenges, and discrimination.
    From untrained staff at the ticket counter, to lost or damaged 
mobility aids, such as powered wheelchairs, to passenger injuries, 
disability-related complaints during air travel are on the rise.
    According to a 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, 
the DOT received 1,394 disability-related complaints in 2021, which was 
a more than 157 percent increase from the 541 complaints received in 
2020.
    We must do more to improve the air travel experience of passengers 
with disabilities.
    That is why I am working with Senator Tammy Duckworth, Chair of the 
Senate Aviation Subcommittee, on multiple bills to prioritize 
accountability and accessibility for aviation consumers, and empower 
passengers who use mobility aids such as manual or powered wheelchairs.
    Additionally, with a rebound in passenger demand, we're seeing 
increased cancellations and delays by airlines.
    In 2022, we experienced the highest cancellation rate in a decade, 
while the on-time arrival rate decreased to 77 percent.
    There is absolutely no reason why consumers whose flights are 
canceled or significantly delayed should be forced to jump through 
hoops to claim their rightful cash refund.
    That is why I am working with Senators Ed Markey and Richard 
Blumenthal on our Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act to restore 
fairness and accountability to Americans' air travel experiences.
    Finally, we're also being outpaced by increasing infrastructure 
needs at our airports.
    We've made progress on our infrastructure needs through the new 
Airport Terminal Program, which was created by the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law.
    In its first two years, this program has awarded almost $2 billion 
to airports across the country, including $14 million to the Memphis 
International Airport to modernize its ticketing and baggage areas.
    As we'll hear today, though, there is much more work to be done to 
continue to modernize our infrastructure and meet passengers' 
expectations.
    I look forward to hearing from our esteemed witnesses and welcome 
the opportunity to work together on these important issues.

    Mr. Cohen. And Ms. Pinkerton, I really welcome seeing you. 
I have known the Pinkertons chased Jesse and Frank James for 
years and years, and I have never had a Pinkerton before me. 
So, on behalf of Jesse and Frank, welcome.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. I now recognize the ranking member 
of the full committee, Mr. Larsen, for 5 minutes.

 OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RICK LARSEN OF WASHINGTON, RANKING 
     MEMBER, COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

    Mr. Larsen of Washington. Thank you, Chair Graves, for 
calling today's FAA reauthorization hearing on navigating the 
comprehensive passenger experience.
    Today, we are going to discuss ways to improve that 
experience. This includes preventing future flight disruptions, 
investing in the airport infrastructure needed to accommodate 
the ever-growing demand for air travel, and ensuring we 
strengthen policies designed to support all passengers, 
including those with disabilities, to ensure they have a 
dignified and safe travel experience.
    Just 3 years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe, 
causing air travel to plummet and massive disruptions 
throughout the global aviation industry. According to TSA, U.S. 
passenger screening levels fell as much as 90 percent in 2020 
compared to similar periods in 2019, the sharpest aviation 
decline in history.
    Fortunately, the demand for air travel rebounded much 
stronger than anyone could have expected. In 2022, more than 
850 million people traveled on scheduled air carriers, an 
increase of more than 50 percent from 2020. And we celebrate 
that return to air travel.
    And yet that dramatic and unanticipated rebound created its 
own set of issues. Many commercial airlines were ill-prepared 
for the sudden spike in demand, which created staffing and 
operational challenges that led to more than 2.5 percent of 
scheduled flights canceled, with at least another 22.5 percent 
delayed by at least 15 minutes between June and August of 2022.
    The shutdown of the FAA Training Academy for air traffic 
controllers during the pandemic also led to the staffing 
challenges, further contributing to some of the widespread 
disruptions seen in recent years.
    Additionally, the recent NOTAM outage this January and the 
unprecedented number of Southwest Airlines cancellations last 
December show how other factors such as insufficient planning, 
outdated technologies, and severe weather can make our national 
airspace vulnerable to widespread disruptions. That is why, in 
the wake of the cancellations last December, I, along with 25 
of my Democratic colleagues on this committee, sent a letter to 
the DOT urging more action to protect consumers against future 
disruptions and to ensure each affected consumer is made whole. 
Stranded passengers should not have to decide between paying 
potentially exorbitant fees to rebook another flight or missing 
valuable time with family and friends.
    Furthermore, in the aftermath of the NOTAM outage, I joined 
Chair Graves and 120 of our colleagues in sending a letter to 
the DOT demanding answers as to why the NOTAM system failed, 
and urging the FAA to take immediate action to ensure the 
stability of that system.
    To enhance the passenger experience, we must address the 
root causes of these mass disruptions to help prevent them from 
occurring, and ensure passengers are made whole when they do. 
But we can't optimize that experience without addressing the 
infrastructure needs to accommodate them. The FAA's current 
forecast predicts passenger traffic will increase roughly 2 
percent per year over the next 20 years. In the Puget Sound 
region, the number of airline passengers is expected to grow 
from 24 million in 2018 to as high as 55.5 million in the next 
25 years.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $25 billion for 
airport infrastructure, a historic investment that allows 
airports to modernize and expand terminals, reduce congestion, 
and address the anticipated rise in passengers. Yet there is 
more to be done. To enhance the passenger experience, we have 
to invest in our airport infrastructure. So, I look forward to 
hearing from Mr. Kevin Dolliole, director of aviation for the 
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, about how 
Congress can best enable airports to meet their growing 
passenger needs.
    And as we consider how to bolster the passenger experience 
in the upcoming bill, we must ensure that we consider all 
passengers, including those with disabilities. The latest U.S. 
census estimates 42.6 million Americans have a disability, with 
many having mobility issues. Last November, this subcommittee 
held a hearing to better understand this committee's air travel 
experience, including challenges with boarding the aircraft, 
inaccessible lavatories, and damaged wheelchairs and mobility 
aids.
    To enhance the passenger experience, we have to ensure that 
air travel is accessible, safe, and dignified for all 
passengers. I look forward to hearing from our good friend, Mr. 
Lee Page with the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the PVA, about 
these issues and how Congress can work with stakeholders to 
help fill the gaps in aviation accessibility.
    And Mr. Page, thanks again for coming to educate us in 
front of this committee.
    In the upcoming FAA reauthorization, this committee has to 
examine all aspects of the passenger experience, from ensuring 
consumers are fully protected against flight disruptions, to 
improving the transparency of fees and other airline policies, 
to expanding airport capacity to accommodate the growth of 
future travelers.
    My thanks again to today's witnesses. I look forward to 
identifying ways that we can help.
    [Mr. Larsen of Washington's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
 Prepared Statement of Hon. Rick Larsen of Washington, Ranking Member, 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
    Thank you, Chairman Graves, for calling today's FAA Reauthorization 
hearing on ``Navigating the Comprehensive Passenger Experience.''
    Today, we're here to discuss ways to improve the passenger 
experience.
    This includes preventing future flight disruptions, investing in 
the airport infrastructure needed to accommodate the ever-growing 
demand for air travel and ensuring we strengthen policies designed to 
support all passengers, including those with disabilities, have a safe 
a dignified travel experience.
    Just three years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe, causing 
air travel to plummet and massive disruptions throughout the U.S. 
aviation industry.
    According to the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. 
passenger screening levels fell as much as 90 percent in 2020 compared 
to similar periods in 2019. This was by far the sharpest traffic 
decline in aviation history.
    Fortunately, the demand for air travel rebounded much stronger than 
anyone could have anticipated.
    In 2022, more than 850 million people traveled on scheduled air 
carriers, an increase of more than 50 percent from 2020.
    While we celebrate the return to air travel, the dramatic and 
unanticipated rebound created its own set of problems.
    Many commercial airlines were ill-prepared for the sudden spike in 
demand, which created staffing and operational challenges that led to 
more than 2.5 percent of scheduled flights canceled with at least 
another 22.5 percent delayed by at least 15 minutes between June and 
August of 2022.
    The shutdown of FAA's training academy for air traffic controllers 
during the pandemic also led to staffing challenges, further 
contributing to some of the widespread disruptions seen in recent 
years.
    Additionally, the recent Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) outage this 
January and the unprecedented number of Southwest Airlines 
cancellations last December, show how other factors, such as 
insufficient planning, outdated technologies and severe weather, can 
make our national airspace system vulnerable to widespread disruptions.
    That is why in the wake of the Southwest cancellations last 
December, I, along with 25 of my Democratic colleagues on this 
committee, sent a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) 
urging more action to protect consumers against future disruptions and 
ensure each affected consumer is made whole.
    Stranded passengers should never have to decide between paying 
potentially exorbitant fees to rebook another flight or missing 
valuable time with family and friends.
    Furthermore, in the aftermath of the NOTAM outage, I joined 
Chairman Graves and 120 of our colleagues in sending a letter to the 
DOT demanding answers as to why the NOTAM system failed and urging the 
FAA to take immediate action to ensure the stability of the NOTAM 
system.
    To enhance the passenger experience, we must address the root 
causes of these mass disruptions to help prevent them from occurring 
and ensure passengers are made whole when they do.
    But we can't optimize the passenger experience without addressing 
the infrastructure needed to accommodate them.
    The FAA's current forecast predicts passenger traffic will increase 
roughly 2 percent year over the next 20 years.
    In the Puget Sound region, the number of airline passengers is 
expected to grow from 24 million in 2018 to as high as 55.6 million by 
2050.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $25 billion for airport 
infrastructure, a historic investment that will allow airports to 
modernize and expand their terminals, reduce congestion and address the 
anticipated rise in passengers. Yet, more still needs to be done.
    To enhance the passenger experience, we must address the root 
causes of these mass disruptions to help prevent them from occurring 
and ensure passengers are made whole when they do.
    I look forward to hearing from Mr. Kevin Dolliole, Director of 
Aviation for the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, 
about how Congress can best enable airports to meet growing passenger 
needs.
    As we consider how to bolster the passenger experience in the 
upcoming FAA reauthorization bill, we must ensure we consider all 
passengers, including those with disabilities.
    The latest U.S. Census estimates 42.6 million Americans have a 
disability, with many having mobility issues.
    Last November, this Subcommittee held a hearing to better 
understand this community's air travel experience, including challenges 
with boarding the aircraft, inaccessible lavatories, and damaged 
wheelchairs and mobility aids.
    To enhance the passenger experience, we must ensure air travel is 
accessible, safe and dignified for all passengers.
    I look forward to hearing from Mr. Lee Page with the Paralyzed 
Veterans of America (PVA) about these issues and how Congress can work 
with stakeholders to help fill in the gaps in aviation accessibility.
    In the upcoming FAA reauthorization, this committee must examine 
all aspects of the passenger experience, from ensuring consumers are 
fully protected against flight disruptions, to improving the 
transparency of fees and other airline policies, to expanding airport 
capacity to accommodate the growth of future travelers.
    My thanks again to today's witnesses. I look forward to identifying 
ways Congress can ensure all passengers have a safe, comfortable and 
dignified travel experience.

    Mr. Larsen of Washington. And I yield back.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Larsen. I recognize 
Ranking Member Cohen.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to welcome 
our witnesses and thank them for being here today.
    We have got a lighting system in front of you for our 
witnesses. There are three lights, there is red, green, and 
yellow. And when it is green, obviously, it means go. That 
means you are on for 5 minutes. Yellow means you used probably 
4 minutes and 30 seconds, so, you need to be winding up. And 
red means you are finished, cut it off, get the hook.
    I ask unanimous consent that witnesses' full statements be 
included in the record.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. As your written testimony has been 
made part of the record, the subcommittee asks that you limit 
your oral remarks to 5 minutes.
    With that, Ms. Pinkerton, you are recognized for 5 minutes.

     TESTIMONY OF SHARON PINKERTON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, 
LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY POLICY, AIRLINES FOR AMERICA; KEVIN 
  DOLLIOLE, DIRECTOR OF AVIATION, LOUIS ARMSTRONG NEW ORLEANS 
     INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ON BEHALF OF AIRPORTS COUNCIL 
 INTERNATIONAL-NORTH AMERICA; RICH SANTA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL 
  AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO; AND LEE PAGE, 
   SENIOR ASSOCIATE ADVOCACY DIRECTOR, PARALYZED VETERANS OF 
                            AMERICA

     TESTIMONY OF SHARON PINKERTON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, 
    LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY POLICY, AIRLINES FOR AMERICA

    Ms. Pinkerton. Thanks very much for the opportunity to be 
here today.
    I want you to know airlines are doing everything in their 
control to constantly improve every aspect of the customer 
experience, starting from when customers search for and book 
their tickets, and continuing until they have safely reached 
their destinations on time.
    Airlines compete aggressively to attract repeat customers. 
You all know----
    Mr. Larsen of Washington [interrupting]. I am sorry, Mr. 
Chair, could you ask her to pull that microphone, like, right 
in your--yes.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Commercial aviation is emerging from the 
most difficult 2 years in our history. It is hard to believe 
that air travel dropped 96 percent in the spring of 2020. Yet 
despite these challenges, nobody could have predicted the U.S. 
aviation system has remained safe, reliable, and resilient, 
although we are constantly working to improve, and have taken 
note of the recent warning signs that have put a spotlight on 
what our system needs to remain the gold standard of aviation 
safety.
    There are really two things that I think we need to do to 
improve the customer experience: one, it is about our people; 
and two, it is about technology.
    Airlines learned that, in a post-COVID world, we need more 
employees to operate our smaller schedule. Simply, it takes 
more people to operate fewer flights. This is due to workforce 
issues across all industries that I am sure you will hear from 
our other colleagues about. To address this, passenger carriers 
have expeditiously hired a record number of people, 100,000 
people in the last 2 years, and we now have the largest 
workforce that we have had in 20 years.
    However, we know a larger percent of our workforce has less 
on-the-job experience today than the pre-pandemic workforce. 
So, to address that, we put a strong focus on training and 
proficiency, and we think it is paying off.
    One of A4A's top priorities for the FAA reauthorization 
bill is improving workforce development and diversity by 
strengthening the workforce grants that you all created in the 
2018 bill, as well as legislation creating a Federal loan 
program for pilots and mechanics. Additionally, we strongly 
support NATCA's request for addressing the controller shortage 
that has simply gone on for too long. FAA must update their 
staffing model, and hire and train accordingly.
    Turning to technology, it is another ingredient for a safe, 
reliable, and resilient system. Despite losing $49 billion in 
2020 and 2021, U.S. carriers have invested a record $26 billion 
in capital expenditures. This includes new planes, ground 
equipment, and technology. Of that expenditure, $6.2 billion in 
2022 was spent on passenger experience, giving our frontline 
employees tools, and our own operational systems.
    It is also critical that FAA modernize its technology, as 
well. Most Americans are fully aware of the NOTAM outage that 
caused the first ground stop since 9/11, and there were also 
issues in January with the Miami ERAM system, one of our 
busiest airspaces in the country. The FAA's facilities and 
equipment budget that funds technology has been stagnant since 
2009. It hasn't kept pace with inflation. The FAA needs both 
stable and sufficient funding.
    There are several multibillion-dollar projects that are 
long overdue and haven't produced the promised results.
    I can talk more in detail about the fact that we are still 
using paper strips instead of electronic strips. We need to 
automate traffic flow, both on the surface environment and in 
the en route environment, and we also need a program that is 
called En Route DataComm. It is what controllers and pilots use 
to talk to each other. We need to move from a voice system that 
is subject to mistakes, and move to an electronic text system 
that is going to be safer and more efficient.
    We have additional recommendations for the FAA bill, 
including ensuring that the FAA remains the single safety 
regulator for the National Airspace System, and we also want to 
work with the committee to continue the work that you have done 
to incentivize sustainable aviation fuel.
    In closing, carriers remain vigilant in pursuing our goals 
of improving safety, reliability, resilience, and a good 
passenger experience, all while keeping airfares lower than 
before the pandemic. In fact, airfares are 55 percent lower in 
real terms than before the industry was deregulated more than 
four decades ago. At that time, flying was just for the wealthy 
and privileged. Today, more than 90 percent of Americans have 
flown, and more than 50 percent of Americans have flown before 
their 16th birthday. The one sure way to bring back the bad old 
days of out-of-reach airfares and limited service is to turn 
back the clock and re-regulate carrier fares and service.
    We look forward to working with you on an FAA bill that 
creates an environment for a healthy aviation system. Thank 
you.
    [Ms. Pinkerton's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
    Prepared Statement of Sharon Pinkerton, Senior Vice President, 
        Legislative and Regulatory Policy, Airlines for America
    Airlines for America (A4A) appreciates the opportunity to testify 
and bring a broader context to the passenger experience, air traffic 
control (ATC) modernization and provide our Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA) reauthorization recommendations. We value the 
Committee's continued interest and focus on our industry and these 
important issues. We are thankful for the many members of this 
Committee who have dedicated significant time and resources toward 
understanding the nuances and logistical challenges our interconnected 
aviation system faces every day in order to craft effective policies 
tailored to benefit safety, the traveling public, cargo shippers and 
the men and women who work in our industry. Airlines are doing 
everything in their control to build upon and improve every aspect of 
the customer experience, and we value the Committee's appropriate focus 
on doing the same to update and improve the public sector factors which 
fall under the government's control.
    Safety First. At the outset, I would like to take a moment to 
discuss aviation safety. I want the Committee to be assured that safety 
is the bedrock framework from which our industry operates, and safety 
is and will always remain our North Star. While the data shows that our 
aviation system is safe, and by far the safest mode of transportation 
including walking, the recent incidents we have seen in the system are 
reminders that we cannot ever be complacent. A4A member airlines 
welcome discussion and focus on safety and we all know we must remain 
vigilant. Our safety systems have many layers and many redundancies but 
there is no ceiling on improvement.
    We also know that the COVID pandemic changed our industry. Given 
the hiring airlines have done in the last few years, we know that a 
greater percentage of our employees now are less experienced than pre-
pandemic. Our job is not just to keep up with change, but to stay two 
steps ahead. That is why our carriers have taken steps, well before 
last week's Safety Summit, to ensure that we are focused on training, 
proficiency requirements and mentoring as tools to ensure our workforce 
is well prepared.
    Conversely, the federal government must also address the air 
traffic controller shortage and ensure that safety technologies are 
fielded in the right places. The pace of change will only accelerate. 
We must recognize that new entrants and new technologies and the risks 
associated with those must be part of our constant evaluation of our 
safety environment and culture.
   Deregulation and Robust Competition Continues to Benefit Consumers
    Prior to the pandemic, we were experiencing what many have called 
the ``Golden Age'' of air travel. U.S. airlines were flying a record 
2.5 million passengers and more than 58,000 tons of cargo each day. 
Those record numbers were in large part because of two main factors: 
affordability and accessibility. Accounting for inflation, and 
including ancillary services, average domestic ticket prices fell 15 
percent from 2014-2019, 22 percent from 2000-2019 and 44 percent from 
1979-2019--the 40-year period following the Airline Deregulation Act of 
1978. Those lower fares made commercial air travel accessible to nearly 
all Americans. Air travel was opening doors, connecting loved ones and 
generating opportunity across all walks of life and economic 
circumstances, demonstrating that air travel is not just for the 
affluent anymore.
    While the financial repercussions of the pandemic will be felt for 
years, the value proposition to consumers for air travel is still 
strong: it is affordable and accessible to more consumers than ever, 
and airlines are reinvesting record sums to continuously improve the 
product. U.S. airlines strive to provide the highest levels of customer 
service, and commercial air travel in the U.S. is safer and more 
environmentally friendly than ever before thanks in large part to the 
competition and innovation unleashed by multiple decades of deregulated 
air service.
    Airline Fares. In 2021, domestic air travel (including ancillary 
fees) was 55 percent less expensive than it was in 1979. In 2022, 
inflation-adjusted fares averaged 6.8 percent below 2019. U.S. airlines 
have maintained this level of affordability while facing significantly 
higher costs.
    Competition. In November 2021, Compass Lexecon released a report 
\1\ entitled `The U.S. Airline Industry: Myths vs. Facts' which 
concluded that competition in the U.S. airline industry remains dynamic 
and robust, to the benefit of consumers, communities, the U.S. economy 
and airline employees. The report also summarizes that:
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      Today's airline industry offers consumers more choices 
among and between carriers competing with different business models 
than ever before.
      The lack of entry barriers and more comprehensive 
networks made possible by mergers has resulted in the average number of 
competitors per domestic city pair increasing from 3.33 to 3.44 over 
the past two decades.
      Lower cost carriers have entered hundreds of new routes 
and now carry nearly half of all domestic passengers; nearly nine of 
ten domestic passengers have lower cost carrier options for their 
travel.
      Lower cost carriers (including new entrants) are growing 
several times faster than the U.S. global network carriers and have 
hundreds of additional aircraft on order to support future growth.
      Mergers between the large network carriers have enabled 
them to regain their financial footing and restore their growth, 
including to small communities that depend on their large hub and spoke 
networks.

    The facts and data show that passengers greatly benefit from this 
vigorous airline competition, which creates greater choice and service 
options. Congress recognized the benefits to consumers when they acted 
on a bipartisan, bicameral basis to deregulate the airline industry in 
1978.
            2022/2023 Systemwide Operational Accountability
    There is no doubt that 2022 was one of the most difficult 
operational years in history. However, air carriers took responsibility 
and quickly took actions to address issues within their control. 
Airlines take customer service commitments very seriously and, as a 
baseline, it is important to note that airlines have absolutely no 
incentive to delay or cancel flights and only do so when circumstances 
dictate. While the details of any specific given delay or cancellation 
are contingent on the unique operating variables that led to it, a wide 
array of challenges may contribute to the decision. Variables can 
certainly include circumstances within the airline's control, such as 
maintenance/crew issues or IT failures, and air carriers routinely take 
full responsibility and are accountable for those events both through 
Department of Transportation (DOT) rules and enforcement actions and 
through the court of public opinion.
    In fact, there are innate disincentives for air carriers to incur 
operational disruptions. I can assure you that no airline takes these 
events lightly and ever wants them to happen. But when they do, there 
is certainly no lack of accountability.
    Conversely, we hope there can also be accountability and broader 
context applied to other factors and variables that lead to delays or 
cancellations. While U.S. airlines are doing everything possible to 
make improvements to operational factors within their control, there 
are many factors beyond their control--including extreme weather, air 
traffic control (ATC) staffing or systems issues, airport power 
outages, National Air Space (NAS) volume, increased commercial space 
launches and military and law enforcement activity. One can also 
question where the incentives and disincentives lie for ATC and NAS 
accountability, and this is an area on which we would encourage the 
Committee to focus its attention and oversight. As an industry, we are 
committed to addressing issues on our end; the government, which is a 
critical component of our transportation chain, should focus on its end 
and take accountability for failings as well.
    Analysis of 2022 data provides a good example for how a broader 
review can provide context to what is actually happening across the 
aviation system. Last year, 62 percent of flight cancellations in the 
system were caused by weather (53 percent), the NAS (8 percent) and 
security (0.6 percent) collectively, as our nation experienced 
unprecedented and often nationwide weather events, ATC staffing 
shortages amid rising volume from commercial and general aviation as 
well as an increase in commercial space launches.
    Further, at the onset of 2022, the country experienced several 
significant winter storms and air carriers dealt with the unpredictable 
staffing/absenteeism challenges caused by the Omicron variant. Moving 
into the Memorial Day holiday and the summer months, the system 
experienced significant thunderstorm activity, carrier staffing 
challenges and numerous ATC facility and system challenges, including 
staffing issues that resulted in ground delay programs and ground 
stops, along with several runway closures.
    As we transitioned to the fall, the system had to deal with the 
impacts of Hurricane Ian in September and Hurricane Nicole in November, 
among others, and in the final week of December the country was hit 
with a bomb cyclone. Despite all these events, preliminary data show 
that U.S. airlines completed more than 97 percent of flights at U.S. 
airports in 2022--meaning that fewer than 3 percent of flights were 
canceled, all for safety reasons.
    In January 2023, despite two major FAA system outages and several 
winter storms, airlines canceled just 2 percent of flights, better than 
January 2018, 2019 and 2022.
    Despite these many challenges, airlines remain committed to using 
every tool at their disposal to provide a safe and smooth experience to 
the traveling public, and our industry will do all it can to maintain 
and continually improve operational reliability.
                         State of the Industry
    Jobs & Staffing. U.S. airlines have had an acute focus on staffing 
and have been working diligently and continually to address operational 
challenges within their control by hiring additional staff and 
adjusting schedules to improve reliability. As 2022 progressed, 
carriers proactively reduced their scheduled departures from their 
initial levels by about 15 percent to improve operational reliability.
    At the same time, like many other industries across the economy, 
airlines also quickly had to adjust to new employment realities and 
modify pre-pandemic staffing models. For example, in the second half of 
2022, carriers continued to observe higher-than-pre-pandemic rates of 
absenteeism, and several carriers have indicated that they now require 
5-10 percent more staff to operate the same amount of pre-pandemic 
capacity. These factors led to aggressive hiring tactics that have 
resulted in U.S. passenger airlines adding 50,000 employees over the 
course of 2022 and 4,400 more this past January.
    In fact, as of January, U.S. passenger airlines had their highest 
employment level since October 2001 and were adding jobs at a rate more 
than twice that of the U.S. economy.
    Carriers have also been focused on securing a pipeline of employees 
across the industry to accommodate future demand for air travel and 
have invested heavily in new programs, including apprenticeships, pilot 
academies and partnerships with universities. These pathways offer 
tremendous opportunities, and airlines are proud to offer high-quality, 
career track jobs that are well-paying and provide solid benefits. For 
example, in 2021, per the latest data point available from the Bureau 
of Economic Analysis, air transportation employees earned wages 37 
percent higher than the average private sector employee.
    Debt. Even with all the public and private actions taken over the 
course of the pandemic, U.S. carriers amassed a significant amount of 
debt, which ended 2022 just shy of $150 billion in 2022. This debt 
comes with heavy cash outlays for interest. In fact, net interest 
expense tripled from 2019 to 2021 and will remain elevated through 
2023. For 2022, 10 publicly traded U.S. airlines posted just $2.4. 
billion collectively in pre-tax earnings--a modest 1.2 percent pre-tax 
profit margin. Notably, that comes on the heels of $49 billion in pre-
tax losses recorded in 2020 and 2021 combined.
    Costs. In 2022, U.S. airline unit costs, including interest 
expense, were 29 percent higher than in 2019. This includes the higher 
costs in the price of jet fuel, which averaged 83 percent more in 2022 
than in 2019. Through March 16, jet fuel prices were running 71 percent 
higher than in 2019.
    Record Reinvestment. U.S. passenger airlines are reinvesting record 
sums in their products to continually improve the customer experience, 
enhance operational reliability, increase efficiency and reduce 
emissions. In addition to aircraft, facilities and ground equipment 
investments, this includes a wide range of customer-facing technology 
initiatives that make it easier for travelers to shop for tickets and 
other services; check in for their journeys and navigate airports; 
check or track bags; to modify their itineraries; redeem vouchers or 
loyalty points; and to stay apprised in real-time of changes to their 
flights during irregular operations. Capital expenditures reached an 
all-time high $21.8 billion in 2022 and are poised to reach $25 billion 
in 2023. And A4A passenger airlines spent $6.5 billion on information 
technology last year.
    This has also been matched by record capital investments by U.S. 
airports, supported predominantly by rents, landing fees, parking fees, 
concessions, ticket taxes, fuel taxes, cargo waybill taxes and other 
revenues generated from airport customers. These investments reached an 
all-time high $21.6 billion in 2021, the latest year for which data is 
available from FAA. That included $12.7 billion for construction and 
renovation of airport terminals. With $20 billion in new airport 
federal grants funds available through FY2030 under the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act, airport funding and development has reached 
historic levels and will continue to be robust for the foreseeable 
future.
       Federal Responsibility, Accountability and Reauthorization
    As this Committee begins debate on the reauthorization of the FAA, 
we would encourage the Committee to take serious stock and review of 
the broader context and situational awareness we should all be attuned 
to going into this reauthorization. The last FAA reauthorization was 
passed in 2018. However, in the interim there has certainly been no 
lack of legislative activity which has included the Aircraft 
Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act and the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act, both containing significant policy and funding 
requirements--all of which have piled onto the FAA's workload and 
responsibilities.
    The U.S. airline industry is in the early years of a long road to 
full economic recovery; we also have an aviation safety regulator that 
is well behind schedule on existing mandates and that is struggling to 
just maintain a legacy ATC system, let alone operationalizing NextGen 
priorities. We would encourage Congress to fundamentally think about 
what needs to be done to structurally prepare the FAA for what is to 
come. Both from a resource and organizational perspective, is the FAA 
ready and capable of meeting existing demands along with the 
considerable challenges of the future like integration of new entrants 
into the ATC system? We think the answer to that question is clearly 
`no'. While not a criticism of the dedicated individuals and leaders at 
the Agency, the FAA is on the precipice of being overwhelmed, if they 
are not already. Policymakers should keep this in mind as the 
legislative process moves forward.
    Recommendations: With that context and foundation in mind, we are 
hopeful you will also consider proposals, among others, that address 
the following priorities:

      Ensure Air Traffic Controller Staffing Model Updates 
Hiring Goals and Provide Funding
       The FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association 
(NATCA) are working through a collaborative resource workgroup (CRWG) 
to improve the process for determining air traffic controller staffing 
targets by evaluating staffing needs on a facility-by-facility basis as 
well as improving the algorithm that determines the staffing target 
based on a variety of factors such as traffic demand and changing 
workforce. That work has been completed and although it is not publicly 
available, we believe this report should serve as the basis for 
increased funding and staffing to ensure the National Airspace System 
(NAS) is adequately staffed so that fewer passengers' itineraries are 
delayed or disrupted due to inadequate air traffic facility staffing 
levels.

      Increase Funding for FAA's Capital Programs
       A4A supports additional funding for the FAA's capital programs--
particularly the Facilities and Equipment (F&E) account--through higher 
authorization levels and appropriations that match those levels. F&E 
has been stagnant for the last 14 years and resources have not kept up 
with inflation, much less the needs of the NAS.
          Moreover, the FAA's investment landscape over the past two 
decades has become increasingly tilted away from F&E investments and 
toward AIP grants. Since FY 2000, AIP funding has outpaced F&E 
investments by $14.9 billion, even though airports have other funding 
sources. This has created a challenge in maintaining the facilities, 
systems, and equipment that supports all users of the nation's airspace 
and the ability to be the gold standard for global aviation. This 
historical underinvestment has led to a requirement gap of tens of 
billions of dollars over the next decade. Since 96 percent of the 
Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) revenues are contributed by 
airlines and their customers, it is reasonable to expect additional 
resources from the AATF to be invested in an aging facilities and 
equipment infrastructure, which enhances safety and efficiency for all 
users.

           Annual FAA F&E Appropriations: FY 2010 to FY 2024

    Actuals vs Indexed Values (2010 base adjusted annually for CPI)
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


      Hold the FAA Accountable for Achieving Consumer/
Operational Benefits
       NextGen Benefit-Focused Metric Task Force--As the FAA restarts 
its air traffic control modernization efforts emerging out of Covid 
related restrictions, we want to ensure the NextGen program finally 
achieves its intended purpose, namely greater energy efficiency and 
emissions reductions. Getting passengers and packages to their 
destination safely, efficiently and as quickly as possible is a top 
priority for our carriers and crucial to the U.S. economy.

      Operationalize NextGen
       Our goal is to implement and integrate NextGen/ATC Modernization 
capabilities, aircraft equipage and people to achieve the intended 
purpose and produce measurable benefits for passengers and 
stakeholders. This includes throughput, efficiency, sustainability, 
fuel savings, emissions reductions, reduced miles flown and noise 
reductions in specific locations and time frames. Our top priorities to 
achieve this goal and improve customer service are:

      +  Flow Management/Flight Planning Tool--Replace the FAA's 
outdated Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) with a modernized 
national planning tool (Flow Data Management System or FDMS) by 2025. 
FDMS provides the FAA with the necessary capabilities in concert with 
operator flight planning automation enhancements to provide the basis 
for expanded capabilities for and improved use of automation by 
aircraft operators that are extremely limited by the current TFMS.
             TFMS provides tools for users to develop, coordinate, 
issue, and manage Traffic Management Initiatives that balance flight 
demand and NAS capacity. However, those tools have reached end of life 
and are exhibiting accuracy and latency issues, as well as shortfalls 
in reliability, maintainability, and availability (RMA). The FDMS will 
provide a standards-based microservices architecture before the full 
implementation, and the final system will address operational needs 
such as improved means of flight plan revisions that address weather 
and traffic congestion, ultimately benefitting passengers and other 
stakeholders.

      +  Airport Surface Management--Implement (Terminal Flight Data 
Manager) electronic flight strips and aircraft operational metering at 
agreed upon locations and time frames to finish 49 sites by 2027.

      +  Ensure the NOTAMs program is resilient, has redundancies and 
is modernized before 2030.

       Additionally, leverage investments by industry in aircraft-based 
equipage capabilities and flight planning management. Specifically:

      +  Navigation--Increase utilization of Performance Based 
Navigation (PBN) and implement PBN at additional designated airports 
sites recommended by industry. This includes the 48 site specific 
proposals made by the industry to the FAA under the NextGen Advisory 
Committee in the Performance Based Navigation (PBN) Clarification Ad 
Hoc Team, NAC Task 19-4 Report \2\ to achieve desired PBN outcomes in 
the implementation of the FAA's PBN NAS NAV Strategy. The FAA should 
continue the implementation of Established on Required Navigation 
Performance (EoR) Procedures and development of Multiple Airport Route 
Separation (MARS). The Agency should also continue making use of 
Converging Runway Display Aid (CRDA) as a metering tool to facilitate 
PBN implementation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ang/
nac/media/Updated_
PBN_Clarification_Final_Report_for_NAC_Distro-Nov_2020.pdf

      +  Communication--Complete initial EnRoute DataComm and implement 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
full data services by 2024.

      +  Surveillance--We support leveraging carrier investment in ADS-
B Out and ADS-B In aircraft equipage to provide operational benefits 
and enhance trajectory-based operations capabilities to improve 
airspace efficiencies and reduce delay in the NAS. The FAA has shown 
benefits from reduced spacing in Center airspace and should complete 
implementation of this efficiency and capacity capability using ADS-B 
at all locations by 2025. Closing surveillance gaps in the Caribbean 
will also enhance safety and improve operational capabilities, 
expanding use of ADS-B surveillance should also be matured to implement 
reduced spacing at airports and in the Northeast Corridor as the Agency 
outlined in its report to Congress, as required by Section 505 of the 
FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-254).

      +  Satellite Communication (SATCOM)--We recommend requiring the 
FAA to utilize equipage for ATC communications in remote areas without 
VHF radio capability to improve system performance and efficiency 
benefits. Reduction of procedural separation should be developed for 
implementation in Oceanic WTRS and Gulf of Mexico Airspace through 
SATCOM.

      Ensure FAA Continues to Operate Normally During any 
Government Shutdown
       Congress should ensure the FAA's operations are protected during 
any government shutdown by allowing the FAA to continue to draw from 
the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) during any funding lapse to 
pay controllers and other operational needs so that travelers and 
shippers of goods are not grounded during a shutdown. Again, 96 percent 
of the AATF revenues are contributed by commercial passengers and 
airlines, it is reasonable that those revenues that have already been 
collected and are sitting in the AATF can be utilized when government 
shutdown events occur.

      Apply Current Funding Mechanisms to New Entrants
       Given the rapid growth and importance of advanced air mobility 
and commercial space new entrants, as new entrants increasingly divert 
FAA staff attention away from moving passengers efficiently across the 
country. Therefore, we recommend applying passenger taxes and the 
waybill tax to these stakeholders to ensure that everyone who utilizes 
the system also contributes to the AATF.

      Ensure and Reaffirm that the FAA is the Sole Regulator of 
Safety and Operations
       We recommend inclusion of language that codifies and reaffirms 
the FAA's singular authority over operations in the NAS. The scope 
should include all civil operators in the NAS, to avoid a patchwork of 
regulatory regimes that would make it impossible to operate in a system 
designed to connect the country and the world.
          A federal standard for operational and safety requirements 
ensures that all civil operators, including new entrants and drones, 
comply with equivalent safety standards and that state and local 
requirements cannot create a competitive advantage or disadvantage, or 
negatively impact safety, operations and ultimately customer 
experience.

    Additional Priorities. While a broader and more extensive version 
of our priorities is attached for your consideration, beyond ATC-
centric recommendations, we are also supportive of:

      Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Incentivizing the 
production and use of SAF through existing grant and research and 
development (R&D) programs. These include the FAA's Fueling Aviation's 
Sustainable Transition (FAST)--SAF grant program, the Continuous Lower 
Energy Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program and the FAA's Center of 
Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment (ASCENT).

      Workforce. Incentivizing aviation careers through the 
expansion of both the scope and value of existing programs. The 
commercial aviation workforce must grow to meet future demand and 
prevent a lack of workers from negatively impacting passengers and 
their travel experience. Our primary goal is to increase the grant 
funds from $10 million to $50 million annually for the FAA's nascent 
pilot and technician education program and broaden the grant purposes 
beyond primary, junior and high school curriculum and teacher 
development.
    Do No Harm--Congress Should Not Punish Passengers by Regulating 
                                Airlines
    Additionally, we respectfully request that policymakers restrain 
from adopting punitive policies such as tax or fee increases or onerous 
rules and regulations that will otherwise hamper our industry, 
employees and customers. The cloud of the pandemic should not be used 
for convenient legislative opportunism to reregulate or refashion what 
was a highly competitive and burgeoning well-paid job creator prior to 
the pandemic. We should be moving forward, not backward to the early 
1970s. As noted, the facts and data show that passengers greatly 
benefit from vigorous airline competition, which creates greater choice 
and service options. Congress recognized the benefits to consumers when 
they acted on a bipartisan, bicameral basis to deregulate the airline 
industry in 1978. At the same time, Congress also recognized that DOT 
needed to be a principled regulator and granted DOT broad regulatory 
authority and charged the Department to regulate with three 
complimentary considerations, which remain part of DOT's mission today:
      Prevent unfair, deceptive, predatory or anticompetitive 
practices;
      Place ``maximum reliance'' on competitive market forces 
and on actual and potential competition; and
      Maintain an air transportation system that relies on 
actual and potential competition to provide efficiency, innovation and 
low prices, and to determine the variety, quality, and price of air 
transportation services.

    We acknowledge and support the need for a principled regulator, and 
our industry does not oppose all regulations. Rather, we firmly believe 
that regulation of airline services or practices should only be 
promulgated in response to proven market failures or when DOT has 
evidence of the need for government intervention in the marketplace to 
prevent actual consumer harm. We believe the same complimentary 
considerations should be exercised by Congress.
    However, despite DOT's robust regulatory framework and the broad 
authority in this area, over the course of the pandemic our industry 
has needed to remain nimble and vigilant to many well-intended, but 
sometimes unnecessary, misguided and/or untimely, legislative and 
regulatory proposals. Some examples, among many others, are:
      Refunds. Some in Congress and the DOT, through a Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), have proposed significant changes to 
DOT's airline refund requirements even though U.S. passenger airlines 
have been and remain keenly responsive to customers' refund interests. 
We support many of provisions in DOT's proposal, such as getting to a 
single definition of what constitutes a significant delay, but also 
have recommendations on how to ensure that some of these provisions are 
clear and do not have unintended consequences. Today, A4A member 
carriers abide by--and frequently exceed--all DOT regulations regarding 
these consumer protections, and there is no evidence of a market 
failure or unfair or deceptive practices in this area. In addition to 
other forms of compensation, the 11 largest U.S. passenger airlines 
issued more than $32 billion in customer refunds, or $900 million per 
month, between January 2020 and December 2022. This includes $11.2 
billion in 2022 alone, exceeding 2019 by almost 50 percent. The $32 
billion in refunds issued by these carriers equates to 65 percent of 
their $49.6 billion in Payroll Support Program (PSP) receipts. It is 
also worth noting that in the first 11 months of 2022, DOT received 
less than one (0.86) complaint about refunds for every 100,000 U.S. 
airline passengers flown--a 90 percent improvement from the 2020 peak 
and airlines are working hard to reduce that number further in 2023. 
Additional regulation is simply not necessary.

      Ancillary Fees. The DOT has issued an NPRM which proposes 
to reregulate the disclosure and distribution of airline ancillary 
services and fees. A4A supports consumer protection regulation that 
advances the DOT's central obligation under airline deregulation to 
place maximum reliance on competitive market forces. Regulations that 
empower consumers to make intelligent choices in a competitive 
marketplace are consistent with airline deregulation. However, 
regulations that would stifle innovation and interfere with a thriving 
marketplace, such as those proposed in the NPRM, are fundamentally 
inconsistent with airline deregulation and will ultimately harm 
consumers. Competition--not government regulation--is the most reliable 
and efficient means to ensure air carriers deliver high-quality 
service, choice and value to their customers.

      Family Seating. In July 2016 a 15-month FAA authorization 
extension was passed that included a provision directing DOT to review, 
and if appropriate, establish a policy for all air carriers to 
establish policies that enable a child 13 or under to be seated 
adjacent to a family member to the maximum extent practicable. Per the 
directive from Congress, DOT then reviewed air carrier policies and 
found that no DOT directive on family seating was necessary because DOT 
found that, for the periods June 2016-May 2017 and July 2017-June 2019 
fewer than 0.5 percent of complaints received by DOT against U.S. 
airlines involved family seating and no single airline received a 
majority of the complaints.
          DOT subsequently published data on family seating complaints 
and total complaints received by DOT against U.S. and foreign airlines 
for January 2020 through October 2022. In that 34-month period, DOT 
complaints concerning family seating were just 0.3 percent of 
complaints received.
          DOT also established a family seating website, which provides 
advice to passengers traveling with a family, a link to every carrier's 
family seating policy, and a link to file a complaint. Despite 
significant work already done in this area and minuscule complaint 
data, the DOT has now submitted proposed legislation to Congress that 
would mandate that U.S. and foreign airlines guarantee that young 
children are seated adjacent to at least one accompanying adult at no 
additional cost.
          To be clear, no A4A member airline charges a family seating 
fee. We do not believe that there is a reason to further regulate 
family seating and we are certainly not aware of any data to justify 
such micromanagement of a process where airlines, our employees and our 
customers work successfully to address any rare and unique situations 
that may arise. There are a multitude of variables like time of 
booking, check-in, and number of family members that a blanket 
regulation just cannot address. Customer service is best left in the 
hands of dedicated and experienced airline employees, not the 
government.

    Similarly, some in Congress have proposed instituting government-
controlled pricing, establishing a private right of action and 
dictating private sector contracts. These proposals would completely 
unravel the positive policy benefits that consumers have reaped via 
deregulation of the airline industry; would decrease competition; and 
would inevitably lead to higher ticket prices and reduced services to 
small and rural communities.
    Stakeholders also have a number of effective and existing forums to 
transparently discuss and debate consumer protection issues. For 
instance, at Congress's direction, the DOT re-established the Aviation 
Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (ACPAC) in 2018 to advise the 
DOT Secretary in carrying out the DOT's activities related to aviation 
consumer protection. The ACPAC, with representatives of key 
stakeholders (airlines, airports, state and local governments and 
consumer protection groups), evaluates existing consumer protection 
programs, recommends improvements to such programs and recommends new 
protection programs, if needed.
    Additionally, airlines and other stakeholders also work closely 
with the disability community and the DOT to proactively address 
accessibility issues. Similar to the ACPAC, the DOT established an Air 
Carrier Access Act Advisory Committee (ACAA Advisory Committee) in 2019 
and includes committee members with expertise in accessibility, airline 
accessibility practices and aircraft design. We support Congressional 
reauthorization of this invaluable committee.
    A4A passenger members are dedicated to improving air travel for 
passengers with disabilities. Most recently, our members announced a 
renewed commitment to improve accessibility and support for the DOT's 
Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights. This commitment was 
established after hearing from passengers with disabilities and their 
advocacy organizations about accessibility concerns, including those 
raised during A4A's passenger accessibility summit.
    As part of the commitment, our members have committed to taking 
distinct actions to improve air travel accessibility. Each member will 
have a passenger accessibility advisory group that includes the 
disability community to more acutely help airlines incorporate 
accessibility into their policies and operations. Mobility aid handling 
is also a focus area of improvement, including the transfer of 
passengers between their mobility aids and seats. Additionally, 
accessibility services training will be improved for all frontline 
employees and carriers will educate all their employees about 
passengers with disabilities. Finally, our members also continue to 
support the study and development of more accessibility features on 
aircraft that will broaden air travel opportunities for passengers with 
disabilities. While some improvements will take time, our members are 
committed to making progress and taking action to implement these 
commitments.
    The ACPAC and ACAA Advisory Committees are valuable tools and 
provide a transparent and public forum for consideration of data and 
evidence concerning consumer protection issues. These Committees should 
be used as alternatives to rigid and proscriptive regulatory mandates.
                               Conclusion
    We are thankful for the opportunity to testify, and we look forward 
to working closely with the Committee over the coming months on many of 
these issues. From our perspective, the simple goals of the upcoming 
FAA reauthorization effort should be long-term stability, 
predictability and a Congressional understanding of `do no harm,' all 
components of an aviation policy that will serve the FAA, industry and 
consumers well, especially at this moment in time. Reforming 
inefficient government processes, retiring outdated technology and 
demanding public sector accountability while providing for the global 
gold-standard of safety will help to drive domestic economic growth, 
promote job creation and--most importantly--improve the travel 
experience for the millions of Americans who fly or ship cargo every 
day.

                                                         Attachment
                  2023 Priorities: FAA Reauthorization
    On behalf of its member airlines, Airlines for America appreciates 
the opportunity to share its top priorities for the pending FAA 
Reauthorization bill. Coupled with preventing harmful re-regulatory 
efforts that would drive up costs, reduce choice and limit access for 
consumers, enacting the proposals below will provide meaningful real-
world benefits to passengers and shippers.
    Reforming inefficient government processes, retiring outdated 
technology and demanding public sector accountability while providing 
for the global gold-standard of safety will help to drive domestic 
economic growth, promote job creation and--most importantly--improve 
the travel experience for the millions of Americans who fly every day. 
These policies will accomplish those goals and we appreciate your 
consideration of them as you develop this legislation.
                     FAA Funding and Reform Issues
Ensure Controller Staffing Model Updates Hiring Goals and Provide 
        Funding
    The FAA and NATCA were directed by Appropriators to working through 
the collaborative resource workgroup (CRWG) to improve the process for 
determining controller staffing targets by evaluating staffing needs on 
a facility-by-facility basis as well as improving the algorithm that 
determines the staffing target based on a variety of factors. That 
work, including MITRE's review, has been completed and although it is 
not publicly available, we believe this report should serve as the 
basis for increased funding and staffing to ensure the National 
Airspace System (NAS) is adequately staffed so that fewer passengers' 
itineraries are delayed or disrupted.
Ensure FAA Continues to Operate Normally During any Government Shutdown
    Congress should ensure the FAA's operations are protected during 
any government shutdown by allowing the FAA to continue to draw from 
the Airport and Airways Trust Fund (AATF) during any funding lapse to 
pay controllers and other operational needs so that travelers and 
shippers of goods are not grounded during a shutdown. Reps. DeFazio and 
Larsen introduced legislation along these line in the prior Congress. 
We support this legislation being added to the FAA Reauthorization 
bill.
Increased Funding for FAA's Capital Programs
    We support additional funding for the FAA's capital programs--
particularly the Facilities and Equipment (F&E) account--through higher 
authorization levels and appropriations that match those levels. F&E 
has been stagnant for the last 14 years and resources haven not kept up 
with inflation, much less the needs of the NAS.
    Moreover, the FAA's investment landscape over the past two decades 
has become increasingly tilted away from F&E investments and toward AIP 
grants. Since FY 2000, AIP funding has outpaced F&E investments by 
$14.9 billion, even though airports have other funding sources. This 
has created a challenge in maintaining the facilities, systems, and 
equipment that supports all users of the nation's airspace. This 
historical underinvestment has led to a requirement gap of tens of 
billions of dollars over the next decade. Since 96% of the AATF 
revenues are contributed by commercial passengers and airlines, it is 
reasonable that additional resources from the Trust Fund be invested in 
an aging facilities and equipment infrastructure which enhances safety 
and efficiency for all users.
Apply Current Funding Mechanisms to New Entrants
    Given the rapid growth and importance of advanced air mobility and 
commercial space new entrants, as new entrants increasingly divert FAA 
staff attention away from moving passengers efficiently across the 
country, we recommend applying passenger taxes and the waybill tax to 
these stakeholders to ensure that everyone who utilizes the system also 
contributes to the AATF.
Hold the FAA Accountable for Achieving Consumer/Operational Benefits
    NextGen Benefit-Focused Metric Task Force--As the FAA restarts its 
air traffic control modernization efforts emerging out of Covid related 
restrictions, we want to ensure the NextGen program finally achieves 
its intended purpose, namely greater energy efficiency and emissions 
reductions. Getting passengers and packages to their destination 
safely, efficiently and as quickly as possible is a top priority for 
our carriers.
    Agreement is needed on the most effective metrics that will hold 
the FAA accountable for its performance in delivering operational 
benefits to users and reducing emissions. At a minimum, these metrics 
should track NAS throughput and savings in track miles and emissions on 
an average per flight basis. To develop these benefit-focused metrics 
we recommend directing the FAA to establish a NextGen Operational 
Benefit-Focused Metrics Task Force to provide recommendations on the 
most meaningful and effective metrics for holding the FAA publicly 
accountable for improved NAS efficiency and emission reductions. The 
Task Force should include the FAA, air carriers, air traffic 
controllers, and other subject matter experts. The Secretary should 
report the Task Force's progress and recommendations to Congress within 
270 days of enactment of this act.
Ensure that the FAA is the Sole Regulator of Safety and Operations for 
                      the National Air Space (NAS)
    We recommend inclusion of language that codifies the FAA's singular 
authority over operations in the NAS. The attached language is drafted 
to be broad in scope to include all civil operators in the NAS, to 
avoid a patchwork of regulatory regimes that would make it impossible 
to operate in a system designed to connect the country and the world.
    A federal standard for operational and safety requirements ensures 
that all civil operators, including new entrants and drones, comply 
with equivalent safety standards and that state and local requirements 
cannot create a competitive advantage or disadvantage, or negatively 
impact safety and operations.
 Improve Air Traffic Management to Address Consumer and Environmental 
                                 Issues
Operationalize NextGen
    Our goal is to implement and integrate NextGen/ATC Modernization 
capabilities, aircraft equipage and people to achieve the intended 
purpose and produce measurable benefits for passengers and 
stakeholders. This includes throughput, efficiency, sustainability, 
fuel savings, emissions reductions, reduced miles flown and noise 
reductions in specific locations and time frames.
    Our top priorities to achieve this goal and improve customer 
service are:
      Flow Management/Flight Planning Tool--Replace the FAA's 
outdated Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) with a modernized 
national planning tool (Flow Data Management System or FDMS) by 2025. 
FDMS provides the FAA with the necessary capabilities in concert with 
operator flight planning automation enhancements to provide the basis 
for expanded capabilities for and improved use of automation by 
aircraft operators that are extremely limited by the current TFMS.
      TFMS provides tools for users to develop, coordinate, 
issue, and manage Traffic Management Initiatives that balance flight 
demand and NAS capacity. However, those tools have reached end of life 
and are exhibiting accuracy and latency issues, as well as shortfalls 
in reliability, maintainability, and availability (RMA). The FDMS will 
provide a standards-based microservices architecture before the full 
implementation, and the final system will address operational needs 
such as improved means of flight plan revisions that address weather 
and traffic congestion, ultimately benefitting passengers and other 
stakeholders.
      Airport Surface Management--Implement (Terminal Flight 
Data Manager) electronic flight strips and at identified sites, 
aircraft operational metering at agreed upon locations and time frames 
to finish 46 sites by 2027.
      Ensure the NOTAMs program is resilient, has redundancies 
and is modernized before 2030.
Leverage investments by industry in aircraft-based equipage 
        capabilities and flight planning management.
      Navigation--increase utilization of Performance Based 
Navigation (PBN) and implement at additional designated airports sites 
recommended by industry. This includes the 48 site specific proposals 
made by the industry to the FAA under the NextGen Advisory Committee in 
the Performance Based Navigation (PBN) Clarification Ad Hoc Team, NAC 
Task 19-4 Report to achieve desired PBN outcomes in the implementation 
of the FAA's PBN NAS NAV Strategy. The FAA should continue the 
implementation of Established on Required Navigation Performance (EoR) 
Procedures and development of Multiple Airport Route Separation (MARS). 
The Agency should continue making use of Converging Runway Display Aid 
(CRDA) as a metering tool to facilitate PBN implementation.
      Communication--complete initial EnRoute DataComm and 
implement full data services by 2024.
      Surveillance--We support leveraging carrier investment in 
ADS-B Out and ADS-B In aircraft equipage to provide operational 
benefits and enhance trajectory-based operations capabilities to 
improve airspace efficiencies and reduce delay in the NAS. The FAA has 
shown benefits from reduced spacing in Center airspace and should 
complete implementation of this efficiency and capacity capability 
using ADS-B at all locations by 2025. Expanded use of ADS-B 
surveillance should also be matured to implement reduced spacing at 
airports and in the Northeast Corridor as the Agency outlined in its 
report to Congress, as required by Section 505 of the FAA 
Reauthorization Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-254).
      Satellite Communication (SATCOM)--We recommend requiring 
the FAA to utilize equipage for ATC communications in remote areas 
without VHF radio capability to improve system performance and 
efficiency benefits. Reduction of procedural separation should be 
developed for implementation in Oceanic WTRS and Gulf of Mexico 
Airspace through SATCOM.
      Incentivize Production and Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel
    For jurisdictional reasons, our key SAF priority for the Committees 
working on FAA Reauthorization is to secure additional targeted funding 
to support SAF Production under existing grant and research and 
development (R&D) programs. However, given the importance of improving 
the SAF tax credit, we are including that in our request on this topic 
understanding that the appropriate vehicle for addressing tax credits 
would be ``extenders'' legislation addressing all needed extensions of 
a broad set of tax credits.
Increase and target SAF Grants
      The FAA's Fueling Aviation's Sustainable Transition 
(FAST)--SAF grant program created in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 
supports projects ``relating to the production, transportation, 
blending, or storage of SAF'': We recommend increasing the current 
$244.53 million by $300 million.
      Increase SAF-Specific Research and Development. We 
support increased funding for the Continuous Lower Energy Emissions and 
Noise (CLEEN) program and the FAA's Center of Excellence for 
Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment (ASCENT). In the market today, 
SAF is three to five-times more expensive than conventional jet fuel 
and there is currently no incentive for fuel suppliers to produce SAF 
over ground-based alternative fuels. To address key scientific and 
technical challenges that inhibit the development, wide scale 
production, and use of economically viable SAF we recommend increased 
funding to accelerate efforts to scale up SAF supply, at an order of 
magnitude necessary to make it economically viable. We strongly support 
prioritizing research to enable an increase of the SAF blending limit 
beyond the current 50 percent with a goal of reaching 100 percent SAF 
in the near term.
Exempt SAF from jet fuel excise tax on the SAF portion of the blend.
      Currently, the SAF BTC Treasury guidance says that the 
full blend will be taxable at 4.1 cents.
Improve the value of the SAF BTC.
      The IRA tax credits have established a crucial initial 
footing for meeting the ambitious goal set by industry and the Biden 
Administration of having 3 billion gallons of SAF available by 2030. 
Going forward, two policy measures are critical to building on this 
progress. First, the tax credits need to be extended beyond the current 
five years (2023-24 by the SAF-BTC, 2025-2027 by the CFPC). To build 
SAF production capacity sufficient to meet our mutual goals will 
require tens of billions of dollars of private investment. To unlock 
this capital, investors require further assurance they will be able to 
realize a reasonable rate of return. To accomplish this, we recommend 
Congress apply an approach similar to that used to support investment 
for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) to SAF production 
facilities, allowing the ``clock'' on the credit to start ticking when 
a facility is placed into service.
          Specifically, we ask that:
      1.  Congress ensure that the total duration for the SAF tax 
credits (the SAF-BTC and CFPC combined) will be available to SAF 
producers for 10 years from the date a facility is placed in service. 
At a minimum, we ask that the tax credits be extended to cover at least 
a 10-year duration.
      2.  Ideally, the value of the tax credits would also be increased 
and the producers would have the flexibility to choose between the two 
credits in order to maximize SAF availability and supply.
      3.  Critically, in the event that the Credit for Biodiesel and 
Renewable Diesel (26 USC Sec.  40A) is extended, the SAF BTC should be 
co-extended with it.
      4.  If implementing guidance does not explicitly include the 
GREET model, we ask that clarifying legislation incorporate it as an 
approved domestic certification model.
 Implement Incentives for Improving Aviation Workforce Development and 
                               Diversity
    Building on work that began in the previous Congress, we are 
seeking to expand both the scope and value of the current limitations 
of the aviation workforce development grant programs. The commercial 
aviation workforce must grow to meet future demand and prevent a lack 
of workers from negatively impacting passengers and their travel 
experience.
    Our primary goal is to increase the grant money from $10 million to 
$50 million annually for the FAA's nascent pilot and technician 
education program and broaden the grant purposes beyond primary, junior 
and high school curriculum and teacher development.
    We will propose that pilot and technician grants fall into one of 
the following categories:
      Projects that establish scholarships or apprenticeships 
for individuals pursuing employment as a pilot or maintenance 
technician;
      Projects that support outreach about careers in the 
aviation industry to primary, secondary, and post-secondary school 
students; OR communities underrepresented in the industry;
      Projects that support educational opportunities related 
to aviation pilot and maintenance jobs in economically disadvantaged 
geographic areas;
      Projects that support transition to careers in aviation, 
including for members of the Armed Forces; or
      Projects that otherwise enhance aviation technical 
education or the aviation industry workforce.

    In addition, we support enacting legislation to provide federal 
student loans for both pilot education and training focused 
specifically on addressing the financial barrier to entry for this 
critical career.

    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Ms. Pinkerton.
    Ranking Member Cohen, we represent two traditional 
commercial airports, New Orleans Airport and Baton Rouge 
Airport. And it is kind of like having your two kids. And so, 
we were tasked with having to figure out which one to testify, 
and you got to choose between your two favorite kids, right?
    I want to thank Mike Edwards and the folks from Baton Rouge 
Metropolitan Airport for being here, and Kevin Dolliole from 
New Orleans. We courageously asked the Airports Council 
International-North America to choose for us.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. And Mr. Dolliole, representing New 
Orleans International Airport, I want to thank you very much 
for being here, and I absolutely love your new facility. It is 
beautiful, and I hope everybody has a chance to visit. Mr. 
Dolliole, you are recognized for 5 minutes.

   TESTIMONY OF KEVIN DOLLIOLE, DIRECTOR OF AVIATION, LOUIS 
   ARMSTRONG NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ON BEHALF OF 
          AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL-NORTH AMERICA

    Mr. Dolliole. Thank you, and thank you for making me the 
choice.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Dolliole. But good morning, and thank you, Chairman 
Graves, Ranking Member Larsen, and Ranking Member Cohen for 
having me and providing the opportunity to share commercial 
airport perspective in today's important conversation about the 
passenger experience.
    Again, my name is Kevin Dolliole. I am the director of 
aviation at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International 
Airport. And I am also here today in my capacity as vice chair 
for Airports Council International-North America, or ACI-NA.
    Airports across the U.S. approach the overall passenger 
experience with the same determination we approach our shared 
mission of ensuring the safety and security of the traveling 
public and airport workers. We strive to provide every single 
passenger who travels through our terminals with an easy, 
accessible, convenient, and enjoyable experience. U.S. airports 
would love to achieve the type of passenger accommodations we 
see at airports around the globe, but we have significant work 
to do.
    Just this morning, ACI-NA released its biannual 
infrastructure needs study that shows overall airport 
infrastructure needs in the next 5 years: $151 billion, or 
about $30 billion annually.
    Airports around the country are suffering from a lack of 
adequate infrastructure funding. And unfortunately, despite our 
best efforts as an industry, our facilities show that lack of 
investment. Even with these all-time-high infrastructure needs, 
the airport industry is committed to a comprehensive approach 
to enhancing the passenger experience, and FAA reauthorization 
would be an excellent opportunity to narrow the funding gaps to 
make this a reality.
    The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is 
the largest commercial service airport within a 350-mile 
radius. And nearly 85 percent of the people traveling by air in 
Louisiana use our airport. In 2019, we opened a new terminal 
after years of planning and piecing together the finances to 
make it happen. Airports are the front doors to our 
communities. Our new terminal has drastically improved the 
first thing visitors see when they arrive in New Orleans. It is 
a 972,000-square-foot terminal featuring 3 concourses, 35 
gates, 2 new parking garages, a surface parking lot next to the 
terminal, and a remote economy garage with shuttle service.
    The terminal was built with the passenger experience in 
mind, and contains many of the features the modern passenger 
expects that we just weren't able to provide in our former 
terminal, such as electrical outlets available at 50 percent of 
the seats and gate hold areas; fast, free Wi-Fi; water bottle 
refilling stations post-security; mother's rooms; a pet relief 
area post-security; three curbside check-in locations with easy 
access to the short-term garage; an efficient in-line baggage 
screening system; and a consolidated checkpoint. Passengers 
also get to feel the spirit of New Orleans through our award-
winning concessions program, which features a host of local 
restaurants and shops.
    The new MSY terminal was but one of New Orleans Airport's 
many infrastructure needs. We were able to fund it by issuing 
debt and utilizing a combination of other available sources, 
leaving us with less flexibility to fund future projects. As we 
look forward to the future growth of the New Orleans region, a 
modernized airport infrastructure funding pipeline will allow 
us to better position ourselves to meet the increasing demand 
for even more connectivity at MSY.
    A passenger rail line connecting the cities of New Orleans 
and Baton Rouge is currently under development, and a key 
component of this new service is a stop at the New Orleans 
Airport. Our next significant project is to develop an 
intermodal station, and a roadway, and, ultimately, an 
automated people mover, which will provide the last-mile 
connection from the new rail stop on the south side of airport 
property to the existing passenger terminal on the north side 
of our property. This multimodal project will provide improved 
connectivity for passengers, employees, and residents, among 
other economic and environmental benefits, and is a critical 
element to the next phase of MSY expansion for the entire gulf 
coast region.
    Thank you for having me here today, and I look forward to 
your questions.
    [Mr. Dolliole's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
   Prepared Statement of Kevin Dolliole, Director of Aviation, Louis 
  Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, on behalf of Airports 
                  Council International-North America
    Good morning. I am Kevin Dolliole. Director of Aviation at the 
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Thank you, Chairman 
Sam Graves, Chairman Garret Graves, Ranking Member Larsen, and Ranking 
Member Cohen for having me here today and providing me the opportunity 
to share the commercial airports' perspective in today's important 
conversation about the passenger experience. I am also here today in my 
capacity as Vice Chair of Airports Council International-North America 
(ACI-NA), the trade association for U.S. airports.
    Airports across the United States approach the overall passenger 
experience we deliver to our passengers with the same determination we 
approach our central mission of ensuring the safety and security of the 
traveling public and airport workers. We strive to provide every single 
passenger who travels through our terminals with an easy, accessible, 
convenient, stress-free, and enjoyable experience.
    Airports often think of themselves as the front door of our 
communities. When MSY opened our new terminal in 2019, we made sure the 
new building reflected our community. The sense of place you will find 
in our terminal perfectly represents everything the world loves about 
New Orleans. While our passengers know they have arrived in New Orleans 
when they enter our terminal from their jet bridge, they do not know 
all of the behind-the-scenes operations that are required to provide 
them with a seamless experience.
    From the time a passenger arrives at the curb of an airport through 
their return back home, airports are committed to working 
collaboratively with their partners--including airlines, government, 
concessionaires, rental car companies, and other service providers--to 
set high customer experience standards and processes.
                   Improving the Passenger Experience
    Even during the depths of the pandemic, when our terminals were 
nearly empty, airports continued to increase efforts to promote the 
health and safety of the traveling public and airport workers. Every 
airport took important steps during that time to enhance the passenger 
experience and provide a higher level of comfort to our customers. Now 
in our recovery as an industry, airports are continuing our work as 
more and more Americans return to the skies.
    So much has changed over the last three years. To achieve the 
highest level of passenger satisfaction, airports are stepping up 
efforts to improve data collection and analysis to better understand 
passenger needs as we look to invest in future improvements. Passengers 
are now rightly demanding more choices when inside our terminals. As 
such, airports have worked closely with their tenants, especially 
concessions partners, to expand options and hours. Airports also are 
working with their airlines to improve price and service competition.
    Every two years, ACI-NA conducts a survey of its members to 
understand new trends in delivering a positive passenger experience. In 
its first survey since the pandemic, ACI-NA has noted the widespread 
adoption of new passenger amenities and changes to how airports 
approach customer experience management. Using lessons learned from the 
pandemic, a greater number of airports are ensuring the customer 
experience is integrated into all decision making processes and 
enhancing collaboration with their stakeholders, business partners, and 
surrounding communities. Some of the new passenger amenities include:
      Plan-Ahead Conveniences: online parking reservation 
systems, security screening reservations, co-working spaces
      Accessibility: sensory rooms and quiet rooms, autonomous 
wheelchairs, vision impaired wayfinding, lactation rooms
      Technology: electrical charging stations, contactless 
mobile food ordering, autonomous delivery robots, restroom stall 
occupancy sensors

    Airports are working to improve facilities for all passengers, 
including those with disabilities. Thanks to terminal funding made 
available through the Airport Terminal Program (ATP) in the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law (BIL), airports have been able to start projects 
that help with accessibility and ADA compliance. Of the $1 billion 
granted for fiscal year 2022 through ATP, roughly two-thirds of the 
terminal projects accounting for more than $600 million in federal 
funding include components that enhance accessibility and ADA 
compliance.
    For fiscal years 2022 and 2023, airports submitted nearly $25 
billion worth of ATP projects requests for only $1 billion in available 
funding each year. While the recent investment in the ATP is welcome 
and needed, the funding gap for terminal projects highlights the need 
for additional federal assistance to keep up with travel demands, 
including travelers with accessibility needs.
    We are making progress, but some immense challenges remain. For 
example, airports and their partners have not been immune to the 
complex workforce issues impacting so many other industries across our 
economy. While airports are massive employers in their communities, 
airports are at a disadvantage in attracting and retaining the skilled 
workers needed to make an airport function, such as with transportation 
to-and-from work and with security badging requirements. Airports are 
working closely with their partners to make airport jobs more 
desirable.
    When and where appropriate, airports also are looking to technology 
to enhance the passenger experience. The rapid innovation and passenger 
comfort of new technologies and processes has been an unforeseen 
benefit of our pandemic experience. Airports are working with airlines, 
concessionaires, government partners, and service providers to deploy 
new technologies to further alleviate friction points and provide a 
seamless experience for passengers. From food delivery robots to more 
efficient monitoring of facility usage to enhanced security screening 
and safety technologies, we are making investments to provide 
passengers with the best possible experience in their return to the 
skies. Airports need to keep up with customer demands. Airport 
customers expect airports to fully embark on the digitalization of 
airport processes and in receiving stellar customer experience. Meeting 
passenger needs requires significant upgrade of existing aging 
infrastructure.
  Airport Infrastructure Investment Helps Meet Passenger Expectations
    Much of the work being done across the industry to improve the 
passenger experience requires airports to make significant investments 
to update their physical infrastructure, particularly as many seek to 
personalize the experience based on regional and local influences. The 
commitment to the passenger experience requires monetary investment, 
but unfortunately airports remain constrained in long-term 
infrastructure funding opportunities as Airport Improvement Program 
(AIP) grants and federal cap on the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) 
local user fee both have remained stagnant for two decades.
    Year after year airport infrastructure needs continue to increase. 
As a result, available airport infrastructure funds do not meet today's 
demands. Despite the five-year influx of BIL funding, which ends in 
fiscal year 2026, unmet infrastructure needs far surpass current 
funding levels. The 2019 ACI-NA Infrastructure Needs Survey found that 
U.S. airports had $128 billion in infrastructure needs over a five-year 
period. The updated 2023 version of that report, coming out today, 
shows the need has increased to $151 billion over a five-year period, 
or about $30 billion annually.
    Virtually all airports, irrespective of their size and geographical 
location, are in need of capital to maintain and expand their 
infrastructure to accommodate the immediate and future demands, enhance 
the efficiency of their processes, and increase service quality and 
customer experience. More information about the needs based on hub 
sized can be found in the chart below:

 ACI	NA Estimates Over $151 Billion Infrastructure Needs for 2023	2027
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


      Large hub airports, with 69.4 percent of all 
enplanements, account for $15.8 billion per annum (53 percent);
      Medium hub airports, with 16.9 percent of all 
enplanements, account for $5.6 billion per annum (19 percent);
      Small hub airports, with 4 percent of all enplanements, 
account for $3.1 billion per annum (10 percent), and;
      Non-hub airports, with 3 percent of all enplanements, 
account for $1.6 billion per annum (5 percent).

    The amount of money airports receive from the AIP and PFC combined 
is just under $6.5 billion annually. BIL funds, which will run out in 3 
years, add $3.86 billion annually. Remaining airport revenue after 
operating expenses is just $2.66 billion annually. After adding up AIP, 
PFC, BIL, and airport revenue totals, there is just under $13 billion 
in available funds for infrastructure annually, one-third of which will 
not be available in a few years when BIL money stops. These numbers are 
a far cry from the $30 billion in annual airport infrastructure needs--
numbers which are sure to grow in the coming years. We have seen that 
demand just on BIL funding alone with more than 650 applications 
totaling $14 billion for the first $1 billion in terminal upgrades 
provided under BIL and nearly $10 billion for the second round of 
airport terminal funding.
    Airports want passengers to have a positive experience when 
traveling, but it is challenging to provide such an experience when 
airports have insufficient funding to build, maintain, and adapt their 
facilities. Currently, curbside congestion and long Transportation 
Security Administration (TSA) check point wait times frustrate aviation 
passengers, and rightfully so. Given the age of U.S. airports, it is no 
wonder that checkpoint inefficiencies are a common theme throughout our 
nation's airports. TSA came into being 22 years ago, well after 
construction of most commercial service airports in the United States, 
and the agency suffers from inefficient checkpoints in many locations 
because the terminals were not built to accommodate modern checkpoints 
in the first place. Additional funding can enable airports to expand 
the infrastructure around current checkpoints needs to maximize space 
and make them more efficient.
    After passengers make it through security to their gates, there 
often are not enough seats or comfortable waiting areas available, 
particularly in close proximity to charging stations, which is a big 
deal to most travelers today. U.S. terminals are simply outdated and 
maxed out. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it 
is projected that passenger traffic will increase to 153% of 2019 
traffic levels by 2040. Current airport infrastructure cannot 
accommodate such growth and airports do not have the funds on hand to 
make these necessary changes especially in the time it takes to plan, 
build, and complete such projects.
    Since most U.S. airports do not have the capital on hand to fund 
critical infrastructure projects, they must go to the bond market to 
finance them. However, borrowing money comes with a high price tag and 
the growing debt airports are incurring as a result is not sustainable. 
Most airports already have some level of debt they must continually 
service to maintain their superb credit ratings and some have already 
reached their borrowing capacity due to infrastructure project costs. 
Airports in the U.S. have a record outstanding debt of approximately 
$137 billion, which results in an annual debt service obligation of 
approximately $8 billion. This is on top of the $151 infrastructure 
needs U.S. airports have over a five-year period.
         FAA Reauthorization Provides an Opportunity to Improve
    Airports are so focused on improving the passenger experience that 
our industry's FAA reauthorization priorities that we submitted to 
Congress actually has it in the title--Modernize America's Airports: 
Investing in the Passenger Experience. We break our requests into three 
main categories: investing in facilities, relieving regulatory burdens, 
and preparing for new opportunities. Airport operators, in 
collaboration with our trade associations ACI-NA and AAAE, recommend 
Congress implement the following policy priorities in the upcoming FAA 
reauthorization bill related to infrastructure improvement.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                 Reform the Airport Improvement Program
    As our top priority, airports urge Congress to increase funding and 
expand project eligibility to terminal projects for AIP, which has 
remained stagnant at $3.35 billion for almost two decades. Increasing 
annual AIP funding will help airports meet growing infrastructure needs 
as validated by the FAA in its most recent National Plan of Integrated 
Airport Systems (NPIAS) report--needs that are exacerbated by the 
program's reduced purchasing power and significant construction-cost 
inflation in recent years. Airports construction costs have jumped by 
40 percent since 2012, outpacing inflation, which jumped 27 percent 
over the same period and significantly accentuated construction costs. 
Tensions on the supply chains, increases in construction material 
costs, and increases in U.S. labor costs all contribute to the added 
cost of airport projects. In this inflationary context, airports' 
traditional sources of funding keep being eroded, drastically limiting 
their ability to finance their most basic infrastructure needs and 
deliver on airport projects.
    We also propose loosening the federal restrictions on AIP 
eligibility, adjusting funding formulas for both commercial service and 
general aviation airports, expediting the release of AIP grants to 
airports, and recalibrating the program to meet with present and future 
needs of both commercial service and general aviation airports. We 
outline improvements to the passenger experience through AIP with a 
four-pronged approach:
      Use Existing Funds: Passengers contribute to the Airport 
and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) that funds AIP. As air service continues 
to rebound after the depths of the pandemic, more of the user fees from 
this trust fund should go toward helping to improve the passenger 
experience at airports across the country.
      Promote Competition and Save Passenger Money: Expanding 
AIP eligibility to terminals can promote much needed competition in the 
airline industry. New investments in airports are valuable tools in 
helping local communities attract new carriers and accommodate new 
routes or expanded service from existing carriers, which lowers 
airfares for passengers across routes, across the country.
      Investment in Communities: The total economic outputs of 
U.S. commercial service airports now exceeds $1.4 trillion, supporting 
more than 11.5 million jobs with a payroll of more than $428 billion 
and accounting for more than seven percent of U.S. GDP. Modernizing 
airport infrastructure funding ensures our nation's airports have the 
resources they need to remain competitive and thriving hubs of economic 
opportunity.
      Wide-Ranging Industry Support: A broad and diverse 
coalition of industry groups and businesses support modernizing AIP. 
ACI-NA's Beyond the Runway coalition, which is made up of more than 100 
organization and trade groups, has come together to support AIP thanks 
to the jobs and dollars AIP brings to their industries.
            Modernize the Passenger Facility Charge Program
    Airports continue to urge Congress to adjust the outdated federal 
cap on PFCs, which was last raised more than 20 years ago. PFCs are 
local user fees that must be approved locally, imposed locally, and 
used locally for specific projects approved by the FAA, in consultation 
with the airlines and local communities. Adjusting the federal cap on 
local PFCs would help reduce that financial pressure and give airports 
the option of using more local funds for their infrastructure needs.
    In addition to a long overdue adjustment to the federal PFC cap, 
Congress should undertake reforms to the PFC program, such as 
eliminating the loophole that prevents airports from collecting user 
fees from non-revenue passengers; directing the FAA to fully implement 
a streamlined implementation process for airports of all sizes, as 
called for in Section 121 of the last FAA bill; and expanding project 
eligibility to include any lawful capital cost at an airport.
  Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and the Passenger 
                               Experience
    The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is the 
largest commercial service airport within a 350-mile radius, and nearly 
85 percent of people traveling by air in Louisiana use our airport. 
Before the pandemic, MSY saw record-breaking passenger totals for 5 
years in a row, peaking at 13.6 million passengers in 2019. With air 
service back on the rise again, forecasts show that we may exceed pre-
pandemic passenger numbers by 2024.
    Just five months before the pandemic began, MSY cut the ribbon on a 
new, $1.1 billion replacement terminal to better meet the needs of the 
traveling public now and into the future. The original terminal 
building was constructed in 1959; it was 60 years old by the time it 
was replaced. In addition to the challenges that arise from maintaining 
an aging building, airport security requirements and aviation industry 
best practices have changed drastically over those six decades. The 
concourses in the former terminal had been built and reconstructed at 
various times over the previous 40 years, but the airport struggled to 
keep up with increased demand and a positive passenger experience as it 
aged.
    When we moved all airport operations to the new facility on the 
opposite side of our runways, this significant infrastructure 
investment drastically improved the first thing visitors see when they 
arrive in New Orleans. The new MSY terminal is approximately 972,000-
square-feet featuring three concourses, 35 gates, two new parking 
garages, a surface parking lot next to the terminal, and a remote 
economy garage with shuttle service.
    The new MSY terminal is a stunning combination of modern 
convenience and regional details. It was built with the passenger 
experience in mind and contains many of the features the modern 
passenger expects such as:
      Electrical outlets available at 50 percent of the seats 
in the gate areas;
      Fast, free Wi-Fi, which was a challenge to deliver in the 
previous terminal facility due to aging infrastructure;
      Water bottle refilling stations post-security;
      Mothers rooms in each concourse;
      Fully automated restrooms with sanitary seat covers;
      A pet relief area post-security;
      Three curbside check-in locations with easy access to the 
Short-Term Garage;
      An efficient inline baggage screening system; and
      A single consolidated checkpoint compared to the 3 
individual checkpoints retrofitted into the former terminal.

    Once passengers are beyond the checkpoint, they now have access to 
more than 40 different food and retail concessions where they can feel 
the spirit of New Orleans through our new concessions program with a 
host of local restaurants and shops. Regional options mixed with 
national brands that most of the public is familiar with provide us 
with a well-balanced concessions program that can meet the needs of 
every traveler.
    The new MSY also has improved the parking experience at the new 
terminal. With more than 8,000 parking spaces--2,000 more than the 
previous terminal--there is enough room to meet the airport's parking 
needs especially as demand increased drastically during the pandemic. 
In addition to more spaces, real-time data on the airport website and 
dynamic signage on I-10 will quickly help travelers decide where to 
park in one of four locations.
    Beyond the streamlined travel experience, beautiful architecture 
and world-class restaurant and shopping options, MSY offers other 
innovative customer service features:
      The Park MSY Express Economy Garage features convenient 
shuttle service and Complimentary Baggage Check-in allowing outbound 
passengers to check their luggage from the comfort of their vehicle 
before parking. This allows passengers to catch the shuttle luggage-
free and skip the airline ticket counter.
      The airport's new parking garages are equipped with Park 
Assist, which gives passengers a visual queue to alert them where one 
or more spaces are available. The program reduces the time it takes to 
find a parking spot and helps passengers get to their flight faster.
      An online Parking Reservation System, which allows 
passengers to ensure a space will be available in the parking facility 
of their choice.
      Valet Parking, which is a convenient option for 
passengers looking to save some extra time.
      The MSY Guest Pass program allows guests who are not 
flying and do not have a boarding pass access restaurants and stores 
post-security. This adds support for traveling families or additional 
comfort for those with less experience traveling.

    We strongly believe this new airport terminal gives us the best 
opportunity to compete in the global, 21st-century economy. As a result 
of these efforts, MSY has been recognized for its customer service and 
efficient operational practices by numerous industry partners such as:
      Best Large Airport in North America, J.D. Power's 2021 
North America Airport Satisfaction Study;
      Best Airport in North America, (5-15 million passengers), 
Airports Council International World's 2021, and 2022 ASQ Program;
      Best Overall Concessions Program, Best Concessions 
Program Design, and Best Local-Inspired Restaurant for Emeril's Table 
(Medium/Small Airports Division), Airport Experience Awards, 2023;
      Best Hygiene Measures in North America, Airports Council 
International World's 2020 and 2021 ASQ Program;
      Most Efficient Airport in North America among airports 
serving 5-15 million passengers per year in 2021, Air Transport 
Research Society (ATRS); and
      Fastest Airport Pickup, Uber 2022.

    These accolades underscore our commitment to the passenger 
experience and offer proof of what is possible when airports are able 
to make necessary infrastructure investments. The new MSY terminal was 
but one of many infrastructure needs. We were able to fund it by 
issuing debt and utilizing a combination of other available sources--
leaving us with less flexibility to fund future projects. As we look 
forward to the future growth of the New Orleans region, a modernized 
airport infrastructure funding pipeline will allow us to better 
position ourselves to meet the increase in demand for even more 
connectivity at MSY while also prioritizing passenger experience.
    A passenger rail line connecting the cities of New Orleans and 
Baton Rouge is currently under development, and a key component of this 
new service is a stop at MSY. Our next significant project is an 
InterCity Rail Connector, which will provide the last mile connection 
from the new rail stop on the south side of airport property to the 
existing passenger terminal on the north side. The project includes the 
development of an intermodal station and an automated people mover 
(APM) to transport rail users back and forth. The APM also will connect 
to the south airport campus where economy parking, employee parking, 
and rental car facilities are located. Additionally, the intermodal 
station will serve as a transit bus hub that will facilitate affordable 
mobility for the region, especially for disadvantaged communities near 
the airport and along the rail corridor.
    This project will provide improved connectivity for passengers, 
employees, and residents among other economic and environmental 
benefits, and is a critical element to the next phase of MSY expansion. 
Investing in critical airport infrastructure will provide long-lasting 
and sustained economic and safety benefits for not only New Orleans 
area residents, but also the entire Gulf Coast region.
                               Conclusion
    Airports across the United States are committed to improving the 
passenger experience by making travel efficient, maintaining our strong 
record of safety, and improving the comfort for all travelers. As 
airports look to adjust to the ever-changing passenger needs, airports 
need the resources to meet the demands, which is why we have 
prioritized increasing and reforming AIP in this year's FAA 
reauthorization legislation. Airports take the responsibility of 
welcoming travelers to their respective communities incredibly 
seriously and airport workers take pride in their ability to provide a 
positive, unique experience. The local approach taken at MSY is just 
one of the many examples from around the country of what success looks 
like. MSY invested in a major critical infrastructure project, and many 
other airports are looking to do the same.
    Airports will continue to seek out funding and opportunities to 
meet the public's needs. Unfortunately, that means airports will 
continue to face insufficient funding levels and financing options 
unless appropriate changes are made. Airports are grateful to have 
weathered the pandemic storm, in part thanks to the congressional 
assistance, but now there is the ability to create long-term, necessary 
funding pipelines to invest in the various critical infrastructure 
airports are responsible for building, maintaining, and improving. 
Airports have $151 billion in outstanding infrastructure needs over the 
next five years and carry $137 billion in debt, which is a record high. 
Modernizing airport infrastructure funding ensures our nation's 
airports have the resources they need to remain competitive and 
thriving hubs of economic opportunity and meet passenger expectations.
    Thank you again for this opportunity to testify.

    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Dolliole. My metric 
of success for your airport is if a line is longer at Cafe Du 
Monde, famous----
    Mr. Dolliole [interposing]. It is.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana [continuing]. For their beignets 
and cafe au lait, or going through security. And I think Cafe 
Du Monde's line has been longer about two-thirds of the year. 
So, I think that is a good thing.
    Mr. Dolliole. I understand it is their best producing 
location in the city.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Wow.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Dolliole. I know Mr. Graves is 
interested in Baton Rouge to New Orleans. I want to see a 
flight from Memphis to New Orleans. And Ms. Pinkerton ought to 
be able to take care of that.
    Mr. Dolliole. We've got to work on that.
    Mr. Cohen. But thank you, sir.
    Mr. Santa, you're here to represent the air traffic 
controllers, and you are recognized for 5 minutes to do so.

   TESTIMONY OF RICH SANTA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC 
                CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO

    Mr. Santa. Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Cohen, members 
of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify 
on behalf of the members of the National Air Traffic 
Controllers Association.
    NATCA is the exclusive representative of approximately 
20,000 employees, including FAA air traffic controllers and 
other aviation safety professionals. And we also represent 132 
Federal contract towers and several DoD facilities.
    I am an air traffic controller, having worked at the New 
York Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility, and since 2001, 
the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center. The National 
Airspace System moves over 45,000 flights and 2.9 million 
passengers each and every day across more than 29 million 
square miles of airspace.
    Although it is the safest, most efficient, and most complex 
system in the world, we are always working to improve 
efficiency and mitigate the risks. NATCA and the aviation 
industry share the same primary concerns: funding for air 
traffic control staffing and training, as well as for equipment 
and modernization programs.
    Staffing and training have been concerns for many years, 
and despite some progress, they remain challenging. Currently 
the FAA is near a 30-year low in the number of fully certified 
controllers. By the end of fiscal year 2022, the FAA had 1,200 
fewer certified professional controllers than it had a decade 
earlier.
    Despite meeting its self-imposed hiring goals since 2016, 
the FAA followed its flawed finance-derived Controller 
Workforce Plan. That plan, although met for the past 6 years, 
has resulted in 10 percent fewer certified professional 
controllers than a decade ago. Recently the FAA announced that 
it would be raising its hiring target to 1,800 controllers. 
That is in the fiscal years 2024 to 2026. This represents the 
maximum throughput at the FAA Training Academy in Oklahoma 
City.
    But hiring trainees short term will not solve this staffing 
crisis immediately, because it takes 1 to 3 years of on-the-job 
training after graduating from the academy, and 60 percent of 
those employees will make it to certified professional 
controller status, with 40 percent either retiring or being 
unsuccessful.
    Importantly, this past November, Acting Administrator Billy 
Nolen directed the FAA's Air Traffic Organization to restart 
the Collaborative Resource Workgroup [CRWG], and partner with 
NATCA to collaboratively determine the number of CPCs--that is 
certified professional controllers--at each facility that is 
needed to meet the operational needs at every ATC facility. 
This will help reduce delays and increase the passenger 
experience.
    For several months, NATCA and the FAA worked with the MITRE 
Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation Development to 
update the CPC operational staffing targets. The FAA must use 
these new CRWG numbers in its annual Controller Workforce Plan 
to provide Congress with a complete and transparent view of the 
operational workforce needs. For months, the FAA has failed to 
implement this.
    Although we are proud of the collaborative work that has 
been done, we are deeply concerned that the FAA's Office of 
Finance and Management, AFN, will seek to undermine these 
operational targets, as it has done in the past, by calculating 
fantastical costs over 10-, 15-, even 20-year periods. If so, 
these calculations should be completely discounted. The 1,800 
new trainees in each of the next 3 years are cost neutral, 
because they are already included in the FAA's budget.
    It is going to take a sustained commitment to hiring and 
training to a local that outpaces controller attrition to meet 
all of the FAA's operational needs, including integrating new 
users and new technologies into the NAS.
    I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the FAA's 
facilities and equipment budget has remained flat since 2009. 
This lack of increase in funding over the past 13 years has 
forced the agency into a fix-on-fail model. We have experienced 
that recently. They were required to prioritize mandatory costs 
of the NAS over sustainments and increases in technology.
    Thank you again for this opportunity, and I do look forward 
to your questions.
    [Mr. Santa's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
   Prepared Statement of Rich Santa, President, National Air Traffic 
                    Controllers Association, AFL-CIO
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the National 
Air Traffic Controllers Association, AFL-CIO (NATCA) at today's hearing 
titled ``FAA Reauthorization: Navigating the Comprehensive Passenger 
Experience.''
    NATCA is the exclusive representative for nearly 20,000 employees, 
including the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic 
controllers, traffic management coordinators and specialists, flight 
service station air traffic controllers, staff support specialists, 
engineers and architects, and other aviation safety professionals, as 
well as Department of Defense (DOD) and Federal Contract Tower (FCT) 
air traffic controllers.
                          I. Executive Summary
    The National Airspace System (NAS) moves over 45,000 flights and 
2.9 million passengers every day across more than 29 million square 
miles of airspace. Although it is the safest, most efficient, and most 
complex system in the world, we should always strive to improve 
efficiency and mitigate risk.
    Our system continues to be hampered by funding instability. For 
more than a decade, consistent disruptions to FAA authorization and 
appropriations have taken a cumulative toll on all aspects of the NAS. 
Recently, it has become apparent that although FAA has received funding 
consistent with the recent Administrations' appropriations requests, 
those requests have failed to keep up with inflation, account for 
controller staffing attrition, and keep pace with the changing needs of 
the agency regarding modernization and infrastructure programs.
    NATCA believes that funding instability is one of the most serious 
challenges facing the FAA and the NAS. Without a stable and sufficient 
funding stream, the FAA will be hard-pressed to maintain capacity, let 
alone modernize the physical and technological infrastructure of the 
system while expanding it for new users such as uncrewed aircraft 
systems, advanced air mobility systems, commercial space launches, and 
supersonic aircraft.
    NATCA's testimony will focus on: the need for stable and sufficient 
funding authorization to overcome current controller staffing shortages 
and training challenges; and the effect budgetary shortfalls continue 
to have on modernization and infrastructure programs.
II. Controller Staffing Challenges Will Require Commitment to Increased 
              Hiring & Collaborative Training Initiatives
    For years, NATCA has been explaining how controller staffing 
shortages negatively affect all aspects of the NAS. When there are too 
few fully certified controllers, positions have to be combined, 
resulting in divided attention between different responsibilities. Most 
commonly, controller staffing shortages can be mitigated through 
reducing efficiency--meaning flight delays. Moreover, chronically 
understaffed facilities also introduce unnecessary safety risks into 
the system.
    Despite meeting its self-imposed air traffic controller hiring 
goals for much of the past decade \1\, the FAA has not kept up with 
attrition. The NAS remains near a 30-year low in the number of fully 
certified controllers. By the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, there were 
1,200 fewer Certified Professional Controllers (CPCs) employed by the 
FAA than a decade earlier and 6% of those who remain are eligible to 
retire.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ In 2016-2018, 2020, and 2022 FAA met its original hiring goals, 
however it reduced its hiring goals by over one-third in 2019 due to 
the 35-day government shutdown and by 45% in 2021 due to the COVID-19 
pandemic, achieving only the reduced goals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Recently, the FAA has upwardly adjusted its hiring goal for each of 
FY 2024-2026 to 1,800 new hires--a positive development. But, hiring 
more trainees in the short term will not immediately solve this 
staffing crisis because it takes 1-3 years of on-the-job training for 
controllers to become fully certified after graduating from the FAA's 
training academy in Oklahoma City. Moreover, only about 60% of all 
controller trainees reach full certification within three years. The 
other 40% are removed, resign, or remain in training. As a result, this 
increased hiring goal will take several years to have any effect on CPC 
totals. All of these factors, coupled with missing its hiring goals 
from 2012-2015, has resulted in 10% fewer fully certified controllers 
than a decade ago.
    Recognizing controller staffing to be a challenge, this past 
December, Acting Administrator Billy Nolen directed the FAA's Air 
Traffic Organization (ATO) to restart the Collaborative Resource 
Workgroup (CRWG) and partner with NATCA to collaboratively determine 
the number of CPCs needed to meet operational, statutory, and 
contractual requirements, including resources to develop, evaluate, and 
implement processes and initiatives affecting the NAS. In the weeks 
that followed, the parties diligently worked with the MITRE 
Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation Development to develop CPC 
operational staffing targets at each of FAA's 313 air traffic control 
facilities. The CRWG completed its work at the end of January and 
presented its report to the Acting Administrator and NATCA President in 
mid-February.
    Now that the CRWG's work is complete, the FAA must use the jointly 
developed CPC targets in its annual Controller Workforce Plan (CWP) to 
provide Congress with a more complete and transparent view of FAA's 
operational workforce needs.
    As it is currently constructed, the CWP is flawed because it relies 
on a ``finance driven'' staffing model that the FAA uses to develop 
facility-by-facility ``staffing ranges.'' That model, developed by 
FAA's Office of Finance and Management (AFN) improperly combines CPCs 
and CPC-ITs (controllers who were fully certified at a previous 
facility but are ``in training'' and not yet fully certified at their 
new facility). The CWP also ignores existing CPC staffing targets that 
were developed nearly ten years ago, which the reconstituted CRWG 
report updated based on current needs.
    The AFN-developed CWP uses staffing numbers that are inaccurate and 
misleading because they are based on actual on-board numbers 
(``headcount''), rather than using the operational CPC staffing 
targets. These headcount numbers deceptively include developmental 
stage trainees (who have never been certified at any FAA air traffic 
control facility and who may not successfully complete training at that 
facility), as well as CPC-ITs. This methodology does not take into 
account the functional day-to-day operational needs of each facility 
when it comes to staffing all operational positions, as well as 
carrying out other functions that only CPCs can perform such as 
training developmental controllers and serving as the controller-in-
charge (CIC) to provide watch supervision when a supervisor is not 
available. Furthermore, only CPCs can serve as subject matter experts 
to develop new air traffic procedures as well as to design, develop, 
and implement modernization programs. Finally, CPCs are the only 
employees qualified to fill other positions in the agency, such as 
traffic management coordinators and specialists, staff support 
specialists, and front line supervisors and operations managers.
    In order to meet the operational needs of the NAS and to enable NAS 
modernization, the FAA needs to use the updated CRWG's facility-level 
CPC staffing targets to properly set hiring goals, effectively place 
trainees, and improve distribution of the operational workforce to 
address the evolving needs of the NAS.
    To help illustrate this issue with a practical example, at the 
Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZJX), which handles 
airspace covering parts of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, 
and North Carolina as well as portions of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf 
of Mexico, the current operational CPC staffing target is 275. However, 
as of March 8, 2023, there were only 206 CPCs assigned to ZJX. In the 
2022-31 CWP, the most recent version transmitted to Congress, FAA lists 
a staffing range of 235-287 controllers but deceptively reported 241 
currently on-board (which includes 33 trainees who may or may not ever 
become fully certified at ZJX). Based on the CWP, it would appear as if 
ZJX is appropriately staffed at the bottom of its staffing range, when 
in reality the facility is short 29 CPCs compared to its staffing range 
minimum and nearly 70 CPCs (25%) short of the current, jointly-
developed operational staffing target used by the ATO for placement and 
transfers. This CPC staffing target will be updated upon adoption of 
the CRWG report.
    In 2022, FAA, in collaboration with NATCA and after meeting with 
other aviation stakeholders about the delays in ZJX's airspace, agreed 
to increase ZJX's CPC staffing target (from 241 to the current 275), 
well-beyond what is currently called for in the CWP--further 
demonstrating its shortcomings. However, relying solely on the CWP 
would have allowed the FAA to staff ZJX anywhere within its staffing 
range, even though we know that the staffing at ZJX is insufficient 
based on recent NAS disruptions in its airspace. These disruptions 
contributed to delays in Florida throughout 2022 when combined with a 
variety of other factors such as unprecedented convective weather and 
airline operational challenges. Staffing ZJX according to the CWP's 
current staffing range likely will continue to cause disruptions in the 
NAS.\2\ It also will place a heavy burden on the current CPCs at ZJX, 
leading to excessive overtime and significant delays in training for 
developmental controllers, all of which exacerbate this staffing 
situation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Although we anticipate AFN to increase its range in the 
upcoming CWP, at the time of the collaborative review, AFN suggested 
increasing staffing by only one additional controller.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Another example is Atlanta TRACON (A80), which handles approach and 
departure radar operations into and out of Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson 
Atlanta International Airport (ATL) as well as other regional airports, 
where currently the operational CPC staffing target is 102. However, 
there are currently only 69 CPCs assigned to A80. In the 2022-31 CWP, 
the FAA lists a staffing range of 92-113 controllers but deceptively 
reported 94 currently on-board (which includes 14 trainees who may or 
may not ever become fully certified at A80). Based on the CWP, it would 
appear as if A80 is appropriately staffed at the bottom of its staffing 
range minimum, when in reality the facility is short 23 CPCs compared 
to its staffing range and nearly 33 CPCs (32%) short of the current, 
jointly-developed operational staffing target used by the ATO for 
placement and transfers. This target will be updated upon adoption of 
the CRWG report.
    Chicago O'Hare Tower (ORD) is also an example to illustrate that 
this problem exists across the NAS and within facilities of various 
types and locations. ORD's current operational CPC staffing target is 
68. However, there are currently only 56 CPCs assigned to ORD. In the 
2022-31 CWP, the FAA lists a staffing range of 63-76 controllers but 
deceptively reported 66 currently on-board (which includes 14 trainees 
who may or may not ever become fully certified at ORD). Based on the 
CWP, it would appear as if ORD is appropriately staffed at the bottom 
of its staffing range, when in reality the facility is short 7 CPCs 
compared to its staffing range minimum and 12 CPCs (18%) short of the 
current, jointly-developed operational staffing target used by the ATO 
for placement and transfers. This target will be updated upon adoption 
of the CRWG report.
    Some of FAA's towers and TRACONs that provide services to airports 
with a higher general aviation presence have significantly increased in 
air traffic volume over the past decade. Generally speaking, for 
facilities with increased traffic since 2014, the updated CRWG CPC 
staffing targets likely will increase.
    In addition to increased controller hiring, as well as using the 
CRWG's updated CPC operational staffing targets, the FAA must be funded 
sufficiently in order to appropriately and successfully train each of 
the 1,800 new hires annually, including at the FAA's academy in 
Oklahoma City and in the classroom, simulator, and on-the-job training 
instruction once they reach their assigned facilities.
    The National Training Initiative (NTI), which began in July 2019 
and paused for COVID, was restarted in April 2022. The NTI is a 
collaborative initiative between FAA and NATCA dedicated to a more 
efficient training progression for developmental controllers. That 
said, CPCs train new hires, often taking those controllers away from 
their primary job of separating traffic, complicating an already 
critical staffing issue at some facilities.
      III. NATCA Urges Support for a Stable & Sufficient Funding 
                             Authorization
    Stable and sufficient FAA funding has become increasingly critical 
to maintaining the safety and efficiency of the NAS. With this upcoming 
FAA reauthorization bill, Congress has the opportunity to put FAA on 
the path toward stability and meet the needs of an evolving NAS by 
providing the agency with the resources that it requires in order to 
overcome a controller staffing crisis and significant budgetary 
shortfalls. Overcoming this uncertainty will prevent the NAS from 
falling behind on safety, efficiency, and capacity.
    Traditionally, the FAA has been funded consistent with its budget 
requests. However, those requests often have failed to keep up with 
inflation for both the Operations (OPS) and Facilities and Equipment 
(F&E) budget lines. The FAA's next reauthorization bill must account 
for current and future funding needs to prevent further budget 
shortfalls that could jeopardize hiring, training, modernization and 
sustainment of critical equipment and programs, and physical 
infrastructure.
    A robust authorization bill also will help protect the $5 billion 
in Air Traffic Control facility repairs and upgrades that Congress 
provided in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). NATCA 
believes IIJA funding should remain supplemental, as Congress intended, 
and should not serve as a replacement for base appropriations.
     IV. Robust Funding Authorization Critical For Modernization & 
                        Infrastructure Programs
    The FAA's Facilities and Equipment (F&E) budget has not kept pace 
with inflation over the past 14 years. In FY 2009, the F&E budget was 
$2.942 billion. It subsequently was lower than that in each fiscal year 
through 2017, before it peaked at $3.3 billion in 2018. However, since 
then it has remained just above or below $3 billion. Estimating for a 
modest 2% average annual inflation rate over the last 14 years, the 
FAA's F&E budget should be over $3.8 billion based on its 2009 budget.
    This loss of spending and buying power for modernization and 
infrastructure programs has forced FAA into a ``fix-on-fail'' model by 
requiring it to prioritize mandatory costs such as subscription 
services and leases, basic ATC facility sustainment, salaries, travel, 
and major support contracts, along with NAS system sustainment. This 
prioritization leaves little to no money for important programs such as 
ATC facility replacement, the NAS facility sustainment backlog, the NAS 
system sustainment backlog, NAS system improvements, radar and 
surveillance sustainment and replacement, and Air Route Traffic Control 
Center (ARTCC) and Terminal Radar Approach Control facility (TRACON) 
consolidation, just to name a few.
    In order to meet all of the FAA's capital needs, our analysis 
indicates that the F&E budget would need to be over $4.5 billion in FY 
2023 alone. Even if funding provided by the IIJA theoretically could 
help fill the funding gaps in FY 2023, that was not IIJA's intended 
purpose and the FAA would still experience significant budgetary 
shortfalls.
    In the coming years, FAA will face unprecedented technological 
challenges. The continued development and rapid proliferation of 
advanced air mobility, drones, and other new entrants could jeopardize 
NAS safety and efficiency if not integrated properly. NATCA must be 
involved in all discussions surrounding the safe and efficient 
integration of these programs.
    Moreover, recent events have brought into focus airport surface 
detection systems, the Federal Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, 
and controller information display systems.
    NATCA believes that the FAA needs to resume modernization efforts 
related to the implementation and development of technologies that 
provide air traffic controllers with an early warning system designed 
to mitigate the risk of aircraft landing on the incorrect surface 
(i.e., runway, a taxiway, or wrong airport). The FAA must support and 
fund airport surface detection systems in order to maintain the highest 
level of safety and ensure the greatest level of redundancy.
    For instance, airport surface detection systems such as Airport 
Surface Detection System Model X (ASDE-X) and Airport Surface 
Surveillance Capability (ASSC) are currently deployed runway safety 
enhancement tools that help prevent wrong surface landings. However, 
ASDE-X and ASSC are fully deployed at only 43 airports, funding for 
these programs has expired, and currently they are in a sustainment-
only posture. Additional funding is needed to expand existing systems 
and to develop new surface surveillance systems to deploy at airports 
that currently lack this type of technology.
    In addition, Federal Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) System 
modernization is an FAA Top 5 safety priority and will require 
appropriate funding levels in order to sustain and upgrade the system. 
This issue is underscored by the recent NOTAMS outage on January 11, 
2023, which caused widespread flight delays and cancellations 
throughout the NAS. A subsequent reduction in NOTAMS availability 
roughly two weeks later further emphasized the need for secure and 
robust NOTAMS infrastructure.
    NATCA also supports improved weather information, beyond 
precipitation, on a controller's primary radar display. FAA facilities 
currently utilize several different systems that are beyond the ``end 
of lifecycle'' stage and replacement parts are becoming harder to 
acquire. Additionally, there have been multiple safety reports of 
issues related to legacy Information Display Systems (IDS) from FAA's 
ATC facilities. It is important that funding for legacy IDS be 
maintained until Enterprise Information Display Systems (E-IDS) can be 
deployed in approximately 2025-27. E-IDS will provide a wide variety of 
information to air traffic controllers such as current weather, 
airspace delegation, access to approach plates, NOTAMS, SIGMETS, flight 
route verification, and aircraft information, once deployment is 
complete.
    Additional dedicated funding is needed to expand, sustain, and/or 
upgrade each of these systems and many others, especially in light of 
the FAA's ``fix-on-fail'' system sustainment posture.
    As a result, Congress must ensure robust authorized funding levels 
and plan ahead for expected future budgetary needs--especially for the 
OPS and F&E budgets--while protecting the $5 billion authorized for ATC 
upgrades in the IIJA. As is the case in most fiscal years, the OPS 
budget also will need to be increased to accommodate increased 
personnel and other fixed costs that are integral to the safe and 
efficient operation of the NAS.
                             V. Conclusion
    We hope that Congress will see the upcoming FAA Reauthorization 
bill as an opportunity to enhance the safety and efficiency of the NAS, 
by improving the FAA's ability to adequately staff the system with 
fully certified controllers and train the next generation of 
controllers who will be hired in the next few years. We further hope 
that FAA has the authorization and funding to modernize the NAS in 
order to enhance safety, while at the same time expanding capacity and 
integrating new users into the system. NATCA looks forward to working 
with this Subcommittee, the full Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee, aviation stakeholders, and the FAA to achieve these goals.

               Air Traffic Controller Staffing: 2011	2022



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                              FISCAL YEAR
                                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                2011     2012     2013     2014     2015     2016     2017     2018     2019     2020     2021     2022
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-Board....................................   15,236   15,063   14,461   14,059   14,010   14,050   14,009   14,285   14,193   13,830   13,715   13,418
CPC.........................................   11,639   11,753   11,522   11,192   10,833   10,619   10,544   10,483   10,419   10,268   10,580   10,578
CPC-IT......................................      965    1,143    1,187    1,200    1,218    1,259    1,205    1,320    1,414    1,309    1,031      943
DEV (Including AG)..........................    2,632    2,167    1,741    1,667    1,959    2,172    2,260    2,482    2,360    2,253    2,104    1,897
AG..........................................      676      671      440      665      936      878      883      980      882      873      917      643
Retirement Eligible.........................    3,064    3,224    3,077    2,982    3,355    2,915    2,410    1,842    1,004    1,143   1,000      631
FAA Planned To Hire.........................      829      981    1,315    1,286    1,772    1,619    1,781    1,701  1,431\ FAA reduced its FY 2019 hiring target from 1,431 to 907 following the 35-day government shutdown.
\\ FAA reduced its FY 2021 hiring target from 910 to 500 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased its hiring targets for FY 2022-2024.


These data are prior to the Collaborative Resource Workgroup's 
recommendation to establish new CPC staffing targets for FAA's 313 air 
traffic control facilities.

CPC:  Certified Professional Controller
CPC-IT:  Certified Professional Controller in Training (fully certified 
elsewhere, transferred to a new facility and began training there)
DEV:  Developmental (trainee)
AG:  Graduate of the FAA Initial Classroom Training Academy in Oklahoma 
City, newly hired, and started at their first facility as a trainee

    Mr. Cohen. Thank you for your testimony.
    Mr. Page, you are representing the veterans that have 
disabilities, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and we recognize 
you for 5 minutes and appreciate your attendance.

  TESTIMONY OF LEE PAGE, SENIOR ASSOCIATE ADVOCACY DIRECTOR, 
                 PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA

    Mr. Page. OK, thank you, Chairman Graves, Ranking Member 
Cohen, members of the subcommittee. The Paralyzed Veterans of 
America, PVA, thanks you for holding this important hearing to 
consider the experience of air travel passengers with 
disabilities in the development of the next FAA 
reauthorization.
    Nearly 40 years ago, President Reagan signed the Air 
Carrier Access Act, or ACAA, into law. It requires air carriers 
to provide disability access accommodations to passengers with 
disabilities. Despite those protections, the current air travel 
experience for passengers with disabilities, particularly 
wheelchair users, is, at best, frustrating and, sometimes 
worse, unsafe.
    Wheelchair users must surrender their customized wheelchair 
for stowage, either in the cargo or, in case of certain manual 
chairs, inside the cabin. The passenger must then be assisted 
in the boarding process by airline staff or, more often, their 
contractors. Many of these individuals have limited training, 
or are unable to effectively communicate with passengers and 
are required to lift, physically lift and transfer individuals 
with significant disability without sufficient staffing or 
equipment.
    In order to board an aircraft, a wheelchair user must use 
an aisle chair. An aisle chair is a device designed solely to 
navigate the narrow aircraft aisle. The chairs are often too 
small for individuals, have limited padding, cannot be 
propelled by the user, and are prone to tipping over. Once on 
an aisle chair, the passenger is then maneuvered backwards onto 
the aircraft and pulled down the aisle to the passenger seat. 
Even if the person is not injured in the transfer process to 
the aisle chair, being transported down the aisle is another 
place where a person can receive injury.
    In my case specifically, every time I am on an aisle chair, 
my hips hit every armrest on every seat, all the way back to my 
designated row. Once there, I then have to rely again on 
personnel to physically lift me from the aisle chair and, in 
some instances, over the armrest and into my seat. Because my 
knees nearly touch the passenger seat in front of me, other 
passengers seated in my row have to climb over me to get to 
their seats. This is not an easy task for people who have 
trouble straddling over me. In all cases, it is an experience 
not expected by those who have to sit by me, but one I have 
learned to endure when flying on an airplane.
    Upon arrival at their final destination or connecting 
airport, wheelchair users too often find their assistive 
devices have been mishandled. Between 2019 and 2022, over 
32,000 wheelchairs and scooters were mishandled by airlines. If 
an airline damages, loses, or delays a passenger's wheelchair, 
it is a significant and serious problem that endangers the 
health and limits their mobility and independence.
    In the worst cases, it can mean the end of the trip, and an 
individual has to stay in a hotel bed while they wait for the 
repair of the wheelchair. It can also mean weeks or months of 
having to use their own damaged wheelchair or an ill-fitted, 
loaned wheelchair. Despite a significant focus in the last 
reauthorization on improving safety and the dignity of 
passengers with disabilities, the needle has barely moved. In 
fact, the percentage of wheelchairs and scooters mishandled in 
2022 was the same percent as mishandled in 2019.
    The problem with commercial air travel is that aircraft do 
not have accessible features needed to safely accommodate 
passengers with disabilities. Passengers will continue to be 
injured and wheelchairs delayed, damaged, or lost until they 
can travel on the plane using their own personal wheelchair and 
transfer to a passenger seat or stay safely seated in their own 
device.
    We strongly believe the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act, 
H.R. 1267, must be included in the next FAA reauthorization to 
improve the air travel experience of passengers with 
disabilities. This critical piece of legislation, which is 
currently supported by 30 veterans, disability, and consumer 
organizations, would provide safe and dignified air travel for 
passengers with disabilities by requiring airlines to operate 
aircraft that meet accessibility standards and improving 
enforcement of the law.
    Specifically, the ACAAA would require the Transportation 
Secretary, working in consultation with the Access Board, to 
formulate standards to address effective boarding and deplaning 
for the personal wheelchair, visually accessible announcements, 
in-flight entertainment, seating accommodations, lavatories, 
and stowage options to assistive devices. Five years after the 
standards are finalized, airlines would need to operate 
aircraft that comply with those standards.
    Again, H.R. 1267 would also require the Secretary to refer 
complaints to the Department of Justice. Referral of cases to 
DOJ would put commercial air travel in the same position as 
other providers of mass transportation. It would recognize that 
the Air Carrier Access Act is not a customer service standard, 
but a civil right.
    We believe that increased aircraft accessibility and 
improved enforcement options will lead to a safer travel 
experience for passengers with disabilities, both now and in 
the future. PVA members and other people with disabilities have 
waited long enough for safe access to air travel. The time to 
act is now. PVA thanks you for this opportunity, and I will be 
happy to answer some questions.
    [Mr. Page's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
  Prepared Statement of Lee Page, Senior Associate Advocacy Director, 
                     Paralyzed Veterans of America
    Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Cohen, and members of the 
Subcommittee, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) thanks you for 
holding this important hearing to consider the experience of air travel 
passengers with disabilities in the development of the next FAA 
Reauthorization. PVA is a congressionally chartered veterans service 
organization. All of PVA's members are honorably discharged veterans 
who have incurred a spinal cord injury or disorder. The vast majority 
of our members use wheelchairs or other assistive devices for mobility 
and have a vested interest in ensuring that commercial air travel is 
safe and dignified for all passengers with disabilities.
    Nearly 40 years ago, President Ronald Reagan signed the Air Carrier 
Access Act (ACAA) into law. The ACAA prohibits disability-based 
discrimination in air travel and requires air carriers to provide 
accessibility for and accommodations to passengers with disabilities. 
PVA led the advocacy efforts for passage of the law based on the 
experiences our members encountered while traveling by air, including 
being refused passage simply because of their disability. Four years 
after the passage of the ACAA, Congress passed another PVA-supported 
bill, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Although the ADA 
requires disability access in airports, shuttles, and other forms of 
mass transportation, it does not apply to commercial air travel.
    The ACAA advanced equal opportunity for passengers with 
disabilities. It required air carriers to provide passengers with 
disabilities the opportunity to preboard, if additional time or 
assistance is needed to board the aircraft; timely assistance in 
boarding and deplaning; proper stowage of assistive devices; and 
appropriate seating accommodations. After decades of discrimination in 
air travel, the passage of the ACAA gave hope to passengers with 
disabilities that their air travel experience would improve.
    Despite the ACAA's protections, the current air travel experience 
for passengers with disabilities, particularly wheelchair users, is, at 
best, frustrating and, at worse, unsafe. Wheelchair users must 
surrender their customized wheelchair for stowage either in cargo or, 
in the case of certain manual wheelchairs, the cabin. The passenger 
must then be transferred to an aisle chair that allows them to enter 
the aircraft and traverse the aircraft's aisle, which is very often 
narrower than the passenger being pushed through it. Aisle chairs are 
devices designed solely to navigate the narrow aisle. The chairs are 
often too small for the individual, have limited padding, cannot be 
propelled by the user, and are prone to tipping. Once on the aisle 
chair, the passenger is then maneuvered backwards onto the aircraft and 
pulled down the aisle to the passenger seat. The struggle then begins 
anew to transfer the passenger from the aisle chair to the seat within 
the tight confines of the cabin.
    Throughout this process, passengers are assisted by airline staff 
or, more frequently, their contractors. Many of these individuals have 
limited training, are unable to effectively communicate with 
passengers, and are required to lift and transfer individuals with 
significant disabilities without sufficient staffing and other 
resources. The boarding and deplaning process does not protect the 
health and safety of passengers with disabilities. Instead, it is 
unsafe, and regularly results in passengers receiving, at the very 
least, bumps and bruises and, in other cases, far more significant 
injuries.
    Unlike mass transportation vehicles regulated by the ADA, aircraft 
have very few, if any, features to facilitate access by passengers with 
disabilities. There is no guaranteed path of travel to allow a 
wheelchair user to board the plane, no specially designated area for 
them to fly while seated in their wheelchair, no wheelchair accessible 
lavatory on the vast majority of single-aisle aircraft, and limited or 
no communications accessible to those who are deaf or blind.
    The lack of accessibility features has resulted in significant 
safety issues for passengers with disabilities, particularly wheelchair 
users. PVA's President, who lives in Florida, was severely injured four 
years ago when he was dropped while attempting to board an aircraft. He 
fractured his tail bone as a result of this incident and subsequently 
developed skin breakdown and a bone infection. As a result of his 
injuries, he spent several months inpatient at a VA medical center.
    PVA's Senior Vice President, who lives in Ohio, limits his air 
travel following an incident in which, unbeknownst to him, the back of 
his wheelchair had been broken. While seated in his chair, the back 
broke off the wheelchair and he fell backwards onto the floor. 
Thankfully, he was not severely injured because the wheelchair 
assistant caught him. Following the incident, he says the mere thought 
of hitting his head has halted his air travel.
    PVA's Immediate Past President, who lives in Washington, testified 
before this Subcommittee in 2019 about a time when he had severely 
injured his hip and needed to fly for PVA business. As he boarded the 
plane using an aisle chair, his knee hit nearly every armrest on the 
way back to his seat. He recalled that each time he hit his knee that 
the jolt sent pain radiating to his injured hip.
    Disability advocates, led by PVA, surveyed air travel passengers 
with disabilities following the 35th anniversary of the ACAA in October 
2021.\1\ Over 1,200 individuals responded to the survey, which covered 
a wide variety of accommodations for passengers with disabilities. The 
survey's results supported the anecdotal reports that we regularly 
receive from wheelchair users.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Paralyzed Veterans of America, The ACAA Survey: Overview of 
Survey Results Regarding the Air Travel Experience of Passengers with 
Disabilities, https://pva.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-ACAA-
Survey-Results-FINAL.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Many respondents reported that even though they traveled by air 
they were very concerned about encountering physical barriers. The top 
reason to avoid air travel was concerns about wheelchair damage. 
Respondents also reported they were fearful that they would not be 
safely transferred from their wheelchair to the aisle chair and into 
the passenger seat and vice versa.
    When an airline damages, loses, or delays a passenger's wheelchair, 
it is a significant and serious problem that endangers their health and 
limits their mobility and independence. In the worst cases, it can mean 
the end of the trip as the individual is forced to stay in a hotel bed 
while they wait for the repair of their wheelchair. It can also mean 
weeks or months of having to use their own damaged wheelchair or an 
ill-fitting loaned wheelchair. Following her personal wheelchair being 
severely damaged on a flight, disability advocate Engracia Figueroa was 
forced to use an ill-fitting wheelchair that resulted in medical 
complications that led to her untimely death in October 2021, three 
months after her trip.
    Unfortunately, almost 70 percent of survey respondents who travel 
with a wheelchair or scooter reported having it damaged by the carrier. 
Furthermore, almost 56 percent said that their wheelchair or scooter 
has been delayed. Seventeen percent reported having their wheelchair or 
scooter lost.
    The 2018 FAA Reauthorization required the U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT) to implement within 60 days of passage a 
requirement for large domestic air carriers to submit monthly reports 
on the number of wheelchairs and scooters they enplane and the number 
subsequently mishandled (lost, damaged, or delayed). Between 2019 and 
2022, over 32,000 wheelchairs and scooters were mishandled by airlines. 
Each one of these situations represents a person whose life was 
disrupted or impeded until their device was repaired, located, or 
replaced.
    Over half of survey respondents needed to board and deplane using 
an aisle chair. Many reported that aisle chairs are difficult or unsafe 
to use. In fact, 16 percent of respondents reported being dropped and 
23 percent reported being injured in the boarding and deplaning 
process. One passenger said, ``the attendants rarely know how to 
transfer or to strap me in.''
    The inability to use the restroom during a flight ranked high on 
the list of reasons survey respondents avoided air travel. In fact, 
lack of lavatory access, even on a cross country flight, was reason 
enough for nearly 60 percent of respondents to avoid air travel unless 
absolutely necessary. The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act required the 
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study lavatory access on 
aircraft, including access for passengers with disabilities. GAO found 
that although accessible lavatories are available, ``carriers do not 
often choose to acquire them.'' \2\ In 2019, of the top eight domestic 
air carriers, only 4.5 percent of their single-aisle aircraft had 
accessible lavatories. Four of these carriers had no accessible 
lavatories in their fleets.
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    \2\ U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., GAO-20-258, Aviation Consumer 
Protection, Few U.S. Aircraft Have Lavatories Designed to Accommodate 
Passengers with Reduced Mobility 14 (2020), https://www.gao.gov/
products/gao-20-258.
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    After years of delay, nearly 40 years after the ACAA became law, 
DOT appears to be in the final stages of publishing a rule requiring 
larger single-aisle aircraft to have an accessible lavatory. Finally, 
passengers with mobility impairments and those who need the assistance 
of a caregiver would be able to enter a lavatory using an onboard 
wheelchair with an assistant and close the door. Nearly seven years 
ago, advocates and the airlines agreed to a rather lengthy timeline, at 
the urging of the carriers, that would require aircraft ordered 18 
years or delivered 20 years after the date of the final rule to have an 
accessible lavatory. Since air carriers have been on notice for over 
six years that this requirement was coming, we believe that as a matter 
of equity DOT should shorten the implementation timeline by the number 
of years this rule has been delayed. Unfortunately, even in a best-case 
scenario, it will still be decades until the requirement is fully 
implemented.
    In the last year, we have continued to hear reports of insufficient 
staffing to perform lifts of passengers during the boarding and 
deplaning process, misplaced wheelchairs that result in injury, broken 
wheelchairs, humiliation due to the lack of bathroom access, and even 
threats to contact law enforcement when passengers refused to deplane 
before their wheelchair was returned to them. An August 2022 New York 
Times article, ``Embarrassing, Uncomfortable and Risky: What Flying is 
Like for Passengers Who Use Wheelchairs,'' \3\ documented the 
difficulties PVA's President experiences when he travels by air.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Amanda Morris, Embarrassing, Uncomfortable and Risky: What 
Flying Is Like for Passengers Who Use Wheelchairs, N.Y. Times, Aug. 8, 
2022, https://pva.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/NYT_Embarassing.-
Uncomfortable-and-Risky_08.08.2022.pdf.
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    There are very few options for passengers who do not receive proper 
disability-related assistance. Passengers often share their frustration 
on social media and may file a complaint with the airline and/or DOT. 
The Department can issue cease and desist orders and levy civil 
penalties for ACAA violations; however, the largest financial penalty 
in recent years was in 2016 for $2 million.\4\ That fine, much of which 
was credited to the carrier, was an anomaly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ U.S. Department of Transportation, United Airlines, Inc. Order 
2016-1-3, https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/eo-2016-1-3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2019, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 
passengers filed nearly 42,500 disability-related complaints directly 
with over 185 foreign and domestic airlines, which was an increase of 
nearly 15 percent over 2018. That same year, passengers filed 
approximately 900 disability-related complaints directly with DOT. In 
2021, passengers filed nearly 1,400 DOT complaints. The number of DOT 
complaints filed in 2022 has not yet been released.
    Despite a significant focus in the last FAA Reauthorization on 
improving the safety and dignity of passengers with disabilities, the 
needle has barely moved. In fact, the percentage of wheelchairs and 
scooters mishandled in 2022 was the same percent as those mishandled in 
2019, the first full year for which airlines were required to report 
such numbers.\5\ The safety of passengers with disabilities is at stake 
and Congress must act to bring their air travel experience into the 
21st century.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Press Release, U.S. Department of Transportation, Air Travel 
Consumer Report: December 2022, Full Year 2022 Numbers, Mar. 16, 2023, 
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOT/bulletins/34f2450.
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    The problem with commercial air travel continues to be that 
aircraft have very few accessibility features to accommodate passengers 
with disabilities. Passengers will continue to be injured and 
wheelchairs delayed, damaged, or lost until travelers can travel onto 
the plane using their personal wheelchair and transfer to a passenger 
seat or stay safely seated in their devices. Commercial air travel has 
been given a pass for far too long under the guise that requiring 
access will require the loss of too much revenue without any regard for 
the price wheelchair users must pay with their bodies during air 
travel. People with disabilities will not be able to effectively 
compete for jobs, vacation with their families, or seek needed medical 
care until safe and dignified air travel is guaranteed for all 
passengers with disabilities.
    We strongly believe that the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act 
(ACAAA) (H.R. 1267) must be included in the next FAA Reauthorization 
Act to improve the air travel experience of passengers with 
disabilities. This critically important legislation, which is currently 
supported by 30 veterans, disability, and consumer organizations, would 
provide safe and dignified air travel for passengers with disabilities 
by requiring airlines to operate aircraft that meet accessibility 
standards and improving enforcement of the law.
    Accessibility standards for larger aircraft used in commercial air 
travel are needed to provide a safe and dignified air travel experience 
for wheelchair users. The ACAAA would require the DOT Secretary through 
direct consultation with the U.S. Access Board to formulate standards 
to address effective boarding and deplaning, visually accessible 
announcements, in-flight entertainment, seating accommodations, 
lavatories, and stowage options for assistive devices. Five years after 
the standards are finalized, airlines would need to operate aircraft 
that comply with them.
    Standards related to boarding and deplaning would require 
``ensuring that there is a route accessible for individuals to board 
and deplane the aircraft from their personal assistive devices, 
including wheelchairs.'' We believe this provision would allow a 
wheelchair user to board in their own wheelchair and roll to a 
designated passenger seat, most likely at the front of the aircraft, 
and transfer to the seat. On a majority of larger aircraft, the 
passenger boarding door is already wide enough to allow a wheelchair to 
enter the cabin. The chosen layout of the cabin hinders movement. 
Requiring a proper path of travel would allow wheelchair users to avoid 
using an aisle chair for boarding and deplaning. The standards would 
also include in-cabin wheelchair restraints, if deemed technologically 
feasible.
    The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act required the U.S. Access Board to 
conduct a study of the feasibility of in-cabin wheelchair restraint 
systems. The Access Board carried out that requirement through the 
National Academy of Sciences' Transportation Research Board (TRB).\6\ 
The TRB study was unable to ``identify any issues . . . that seem 
likely to present design and engineering challenges so formidable that 
they call into question the technical feasibility of an in-cabin 
wheelchair securement system and the value of exploring the concept 
further.'' The study acknowledged that further assessment was needed, 
``particularly to understand how secured personal wheelchairs are 
likely to perform relative to FAA's security criteria in restraining 
and protecting occupants during a survivable airplane crash or 
emergency landing,'' and called on DOT and FAA to undertake research on 
these issues. It also called on the Access Board to assess the demand 
from people with disabilities to fly while seated in their wheelchairs 
to inform the number of aircraft that would need to be modified to 
provide meaningful access, assuming remaining feasibility questions are 
satisfied.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Transportation Research Board, Technical Feasibility of a 
Wheelchair Securement Concept for Airline Travel: A Preliminary 
Assessment, https://www.access-board.gov/files/research/trb-final-
report-sept2021.pdf.
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    We call on Congress to include language in the next FAA 
Reauthorization directing appropriate agencies and administrations on 
completion of the next milestones, including the economic and financial 
feasibility of airlines implementing in-cabin wheelchair restraint 
systems, and providing funding necessary to accomplish them. We would 
also support inclusion of tax credits or other incentives to facilitate 
expedited adoption by air carriers.
    In terms of wheelchair stowage, the standards would require 
``adequate in-cabin stowage of assistive devices.'' We believe that 
this would allow more types of manual wheelchairs to be stowed in the 
cabin for those who wish to fly while seated in a passenger seat. The 
standards would further require the option for ``proper stowage of 
assistive devices in the cargo and ensure that cargo doors and the 
cargo holds allow such devices to be enplaned and stowed upright.'' 
This change is needed to ensure that when wheelchairs are stowed in 
cargo they can be done so in a way that is safe for airline workers and 
protects the wheelchair from damage.
    Although the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act allowed DOT to assess 
triple the amount of the allowable fine for wheelchair damage or injury 
to a passenger with a disability, the Department has yet to assess any 
fines under this provision. The previously cited complaint data shows 
that the lack of fines levied is not due to a decrease in wheelchair 
damage or passenger complaints. The ACAAA would strengthen enforcement 
of the law by requiring DOT to levy civil penalties for mishandled 
wheelchairs, physical harm to a passenger with a disability, lack of 
proper aisle chair assistance, improperly denied boarding for a 
passenger with a disability, inappropriately denied access for a 
service animal, and gross negligence.
    The ACAAA would also require the DOT Secretary to refer complaints 
to the Department of Justice (DOJ) when there is reasonable cause to 
believe that violations of the law are a pattern or practice or if it 
``raises an issue of general public importance.'' Referral of cases to 
DOJ will put commercial air travel in the same position as other 
providers of mass transportation. It would also recognize that the ACAA 
is not a customer service standard but a civil right. The Attorney 
General would then be able to pursue a civil action on behalf of a 
passenger.
    The legislation would also formally establish a private right of 
action to institute additional remedies, without removing DOT's role in 
the administrative process. Prior to the 2001 Supreme Court case, 
Alexander v. Sandoval,\7\ the Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth Federal Circuit 
Courts recognized a private right of action under the ACAA. In 
Tallarico v. Trans World Airlines, Inc.,\8\ a minor with cerebral palsy 
was not permitted to fly unaccompanied. The plaintiff alleged the 
airline violated the ACAA by denying her the right to fly because of 
her physical conditions. The court supported the jury's award of 
emotional distress damages, in the amount of $80,000, but did not 
analyze whether punitive damages could be recovered.\9\ In Tunison v. 
Cont'l Airlines Corp.,\10\ the deaf and blind plaintiff was not allowed 
to fly alone. The court found that the airline violated the ACAA, but 
awarded no damages. After Sandoval, the Second, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, 
Eleventh, and D.C. Circuit Courts have subsequently ruled that there is 
no private right of action under the ACAA.\11\ Federal preemption 
further hinders access to potential remedies by limiting applicability 
of state law.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\ 532 U.S. 275.
    \8\ 881 F.2d 566 (8th Cir. 1989).
    \9\ Id. at 571, 572.
    \10\ 162 F.3d 1187 (D.C. Cir. 1998).
    \11\ Lopez v. Jet Blue Airways, 662 F.3d 593 (2d Cir. 2011); Stokes 
v. Southwest Airlines, 887 F.3d 199 (5th Cir. 2018); Segalman v. 
Southwest Airlines Company, 895 F.3d 1219 (9th Cir. 2018); Boswell v. 
Skywest Airlines, Inc., 361 F.3d 1263 (10th Cir. 2004); Fox v. Am. 
Airlines, Inc., No. CIV.A. 02-2069 RMU, 2003 WL 21854800 (D.D.C. Aug. 
5, 2003), aff'd, 389 F.3d 1291 (D.C. Cir. 2004), and aff'd, 389 F.3d 
1291 (D.C. Cir. 2004); and Love v. Delta Airlines, 310 F.3d 1347 (11th 
Cir. 2002).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Restoring a private right of action would allow more remedies for 
passengers who suffer ACAA violations. It would also allow for 
injunctive relief to foster policy changes that would allow passengers 
and airlines to partner together to make changes that would benefit all 
people with disabilities. In calling for Congress to pass the ACAAA, an 
editorial from the Las Vegas Sun noted the support major airlines 
received from taxpayers during the COVID pandemic and said, ``If the 
American people are expected to help bail out the airline industry, the 
airline industry should do everything in its power to serve all 
Americans.'' \12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ Editorial, Support the Spirit of the ADA While Protecting 
Businesses from Abuse, Las Vegas Sun, Mar. 10, 2023, https://
lasvegassun.com/news/2023/mar/10/support-the-spirit-of-the-ada-while-
protecting-bus/.
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    We believe that increased aircraft accessibility, and improved 
enforcement options will lead to safer travel experiences for 
passengers with disabilities. PVA members and others with disabilities 
have waited long enough for safe access to air travel. We know how to 
improve the experience of passengers with disabilities. We simply need 
to do it.
    Until wheelchair users are able to board and deplane aircraft using 
their personal wheelchairs and have the option to access an aircraft 
wheelchair space or have their wheelchair safely stowed either in the 
cabin or cargo, air carriers must improve training and provide job aid 
materials for workers. In February 2022, PVA submitted a formal request 
for rulemaking to DOT about the assistance provided to passengers who 
use aisle chairs, information airlines are required to collect related 
to incidents in boarding and deplaning, and how airlines assist 
passengers when a wheelchair or scooter is mishandled. PVA called on 
the Department to require air carriers to have specific personnel who 
are highly trained in transfer techniques and the use of boarding and 
deplaning devices. The training provided to these assistants must be 
``hands on'' and assistants must receive an annual certification of 
their skills, including their ability to follow directions from 
passengers about how to effectively and safely assist them. 
Furthermore, the assistants must be given properly maintained equipment 
that meets standards that address not only the needs of the airline, 
but also the needs of the passenger and the assistants.
    In addition, DOT must require airlines to provide ramp personnel 
with the proper equipment to safely enplane and deplane assistive 
devices. The Department must also establish a timeline for airlines to 
replace or repair a wheelchair or other assistive device or provide 
compensation for a device's damage, as well as requiring air carriers 
to provide adequate interim accommodations. DOT must also clarify that 
the ACAA requires air carriers to return all wheelchairs and other 
assistive devices in the condition in which they were surrendered by 
the passenger.
    DOT has indicated that a proposed rule will be published later this 
year. We ask Congress to include a provision in the FAA Reauthorization 
requiring the Department to complete this rulemaking within one year of 
the Reauthorization's enactment. We also believe that the next FAA 
Reauthorization should require DOT to provide greater analysis and 
aggregation of the wheelchair and scooter data received from airlines, 
including separating incidents related to manual wheelchairs, power 
wheelchairs, and scooters, to look for trends, as well as develop 
solutions to address areas of specific concern focused on attacking the 
root cause of mishandled assistive devices.
    Passengers with disabilities also need improved access to 
appropriate seating accommodations. The ACAA requires airlines to 
accommodate passengers with disabilities only in the class of service 
purchased. Thus, a passenger who purchases an economy ticket is not 
required to be accommodated in premium economy even if seating in that 
section would better accommodate the passenger.
    The next FAA Reauthorization should require airlines to provide a 
passenger with a disability and at least one companion with a needed 
seating accommodation, even if in another class of service, as long as 
no more than one passenger will be displaced in that class of service. 
We believe that passengers with disabilities should not be required to 
pay higher ticket prices simply because they wish to limit their time 
on an aisle chair and the bruises and abrasions they may receive being 
transported to their seat further back in the plane. Air carriers must 
also clearly alert passengers with disabilities about the availability 
of seating accommodation options.
    Furthermore, airlines should be required to accommodate wheelchair 
users on another aircraft, including that of another airline, if the 
passenger's wheelchair will not fit on the aircraft designated for the 
passenger's flight. Wheelchair users should not be forced to pay a 
higher ticket price if the only aircraft type that will accommodate 
their assistive device is used on a more expensive flight. They should 
also not be required to fly on an airline that is more expensive solely 
because that airline uses an aircraft that will accommodate the 
passenger's wheelchair. Passengers with disabilities should be able to 
benefit from competition and low fares like other Americans.
    Finally, we support reauthorization of the ACAA Advisory Committee, 
which was first authorized in the 2018 FAA Reauthorization. The 
Committee, which included airline and airport representatives; 
wheelchair manufacturers; and veterans, disability, and service animal 
organizations reviewed DOT's draft of the Passengers with Disabilities 
Bill of Rights and considered recommendations related to ticketing 
practices and seating accommodations, stowage of assistive devices, and 
assistance at airports and on aircraft and related training. Although 
the Committee's final report consisted primarily of recommendations 
concerning the need for further study of the issues or adoption of best 
practices, we believe the Committee should continue and hope it will be 
a greater force for change in the future.
    Addressing air travel problems is not only the right thing to do, 
it is also a smart business decision. Over 75 percent of respondents 
from the earlier referenced survey said that if the air travel 
experience of passengers with disabilities improved they would fly at 
least a few times a year. Fifteen percent said they would fly monthly.
    PVA thanks you for this opportunity to express our views. I would 
be happy to answer any questions.

    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Page.
    Thank you all for your testimony. We will now turn to 
questions for the panel. We first recognize the gentleman from 
Arkansas, the chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, 
Mr. Crawford, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Crawford. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I have had the 
opportunity to visit New Orleans recently, so, I can attest to 
the veracity of the chairman's comments.
    It is a spectacular airport, Mr. Dolliole, and I appreciate 
you being here today to share some of your insights. And I 
understand, based off of the recent survey from Airports 
Council International-North America, that U.S. airports have 
$151 billion worth of infrastructure needs over the next 5 
years. Aside from additional funding, how would it be 
beneficial for airports to have more flexibility on Airport 
Improvement Program funds at their airports?
    Mr. Dolliole. I think I picked up the full question. 
Besides an increase of funding, how can airports with more 
flexibility invest more in landside needs, terminals, and so 
forth?
    Of course, our ask is for more funding. But at the same 
time, we are also asking for consideration of more flexibility 
in how AIP funds are used. So, at least that. If there is not 
more funding, give us the ability to use AIP funds for more 
landside-type projects, as well, more terminal projects, and 
that would assist in improving the situation in a lot of 
terminals around the country.
    But at the same time, the funding gap is so wide that you 
would only be shifting--you would give us--we would have a 
greater ability to invest in terminals, but at the same time, 
we have airfield needs that the AIP program is geared to take 
care of, that to shift from one place to the other, it is not a 
whole lot of shifting you can do, lest you hit a point where 
you are starting to impact critical project needs on the 
airfield.
    So, the real answer is additional funding in the programs. 
But minus that, at least the flexibility to use the AIP funds 
in a broader way.
    Mr. Crawford. Gotcha. I appreciate that.
    Ms. Pinkerton, in your written testimony, you described a 
few NextGen programs that could improve safety and the travel 
experience for consumers. I wonder if you could explain a 
little bit more about these programs, and what progress is 
being made with regard to operationalizing those programs, what 
that means for consumers on the airlines.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Yes, I am happy to go into a little bit more 
detail. But overall, as this committee is very, very aware, the 
FAA's record on implementing NextGen programs is lacking. There 
are IG reports and GAO reports replete with examples of 
programs that are over budget and not on time.
    The programs that we have identified that we think are 
important for both safety and the customer experience start 
with the terminal environment. So, the airport environment--I 
talked a little bit about this. In this day and age, we are 
still--air traffic controllers are using paper strips instead 
of electronic strips. And it is not just paper versus 
electronic, it is the information that is behind the electronic 
strips, and how that information gets used to create a more 
efficient environment in the airport environment.
    So, what we are trying to get toward is using that 
electronic flight strip information, merging it with other 
information so that we have a model that tells planes, ``Now is 
the time to start your engine, now is the time to push back, 
and now is the time to taxi out so that you can be in a certain 
line to take off.'' It might sound like a small thing, but when 
you add just 15 seconds or 30 seconds or 1 minute of 
efficiency, it adds up in the entire system.
    Mr. Crawford. Well, one of the things you hear when you are 
on the airplane, the pilot will come on the intercom and say, 
``We are going to finish up some paperwork, and then we are 
going to push back.'' And I always thought that that was just 
sort of a figure of speech. But it sounds like it is really 
not, that we are really finishing up actual paperwork.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Oftentimes that is the case, whether it is a 
maintenance issue or whatever type of paperwork, you are right, 
that is the case. But I think it can be better managed.
    And I also want to go on to the other program that I 
mentioned, DataComm, which is--and again, Mr. Santa is here, so 
I, of course, will defer to his expertise. But this is the 
program that allows air traffic controllers to text instead of 
using voice instructions. What does that do? Number one, it 
stops mistakes from happening. People misspeak or they mishear. 
It allows controllers to text several planes at a time, ``Avoid 
this convective weather,'' et cetera.
    So, again, we have talked about data communications for 
over a decade. And I will give the FAA credit, I thought they 
did a pretty good job in getting those out into the airport 
environment, but it is not in the en route environment right 
now, and it needs to be.
    And then last but not least, when I was talking to the 
staff yesterday about a national planning tool, the reaction 
was, we don't have that. Well, it is kind of like the NOTAM 
system. We have a version of a national planning tool for our 
air traffic, but it is decades old, again, and it is outdated.
    So, we need one large program--it is called the flight data 
management system, and we have been told that this is going to 
be delayed because of budget concerns--where the command 
center, the people who evaluate the Nation's air traffic 
control system, can see everything that is going on in the 
system at once, all of the traffic management initiatives, all 
of the ground delay programs, and can use that information----
    Mr. Crawford [interrupting]. Ms. Pinkerton, I hate to cut 
you off, and they have been very insightful comments, but my 
time has expired, so, I have to yield back.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. The gentleman yields back. I 
recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee, Mr. Cohen, 
for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Do you need to go?
    [Pause.]
    Mr. Cohen. I yield to Mrs. Peltola.
    Mrs. Peltola. Thank you, Ranking Member Cohen.
    Mr. Cohen. But do it quick.
    Mrs. Peltola. OK.
    [Laughter.]
    Mrs. Peltola. My question is for Mr. Page.
    When I traveled here from Alaska just a couple of days ago, 
I ran into some folks from Alaska. And one of the people in the 
party had suffered a traumatic brain injury. And she brought to 
my attention that she has needs that are not necessarily 
accounted for at the airport.
    And I think across the State and across the Nation, I think 
this is a reality for a lot of folks who have traumatic brain 
injury. They may not have parking, or they may not have access 
to a disability seat because of the nature of their injury not 
being as obvious. Maybe help with finding quiet spaces, or not-
as-bright spaces. And I just wondered if you could speak to 
traumatic brain injury and the work that you are doing for 
disabled folks on that front. Thank you.
    Mr. Page. Well, thank you for that question. I am not 
sure--this woman, obviously, has a disability, and it was great 
that you had the conversation with her.
    If she needs access in the airport, there are a lot of 
different accommodations that the airport can provide because 
they are required to be accessible by the ADA, the Americans 
with Disabilities Act.
    If she is on the airplane, that has requirements under the 
Air Carrier Access Act, which, as you said--I don't know, does 
she use an assistive device like a wheelchair, or a scooter, or 
anything like that?
    So, whatever her needs are, she needs to express them to a 
person to ask for that reasonable accommodation, I would say.
    Mrs. Peltola. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank 
you.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. If you want to go ahead and finish 
your 5 minutes, we will cycle them back in.
    Mrs. Peltola. No, no, no. I am good. Thank you. I wanted to 
keep my promise. It will be quick. Thank you.
    Mr. Cohen. OK, I will be quick.
    Mr. Page, you told us about your experience of getting on a 
plane and how difficult it is. And when you got in your seat, 
your knees bumped up, et cetera. We had a bill we passed, the 
SEAT Act, to have the airlines study getting folks off the 
airplane within 90 seconds, which is the rule they are supposed 
to abide by. And they didn't have any people with disabilities 
in their test. Could that possibly be an appropriate test?
    And the reality is, if you are on that airplane, are you 
basically given up for dead? Because how would you ever get off 
that airplane?
    Mr. Page. Well, truthfully, they are supposed to give me a 
conversation when I get on the plane about how to evacuate a 
person with a disability. I have only had that evacuation 
conversation maybe two or three times in the days that I have 
been flying.
    You are exactly right. I am not the 90-second person to get 
off the plane. The only way I can get on the plane is with the 
aisle chair. I am 6 feet, over 200 pounds, and all my muscles 
have atrophied due to spinal cord injury. So, the only way for 
me to get off in a dignified way would be via an assistive 
device.
    Mr. Cohen. You have got more experience than any of us here 
about ADA and the needs for ADA. You go to a ball game, they 
have got seats for you, good seats behind homeplate and where 
you have got leg room. Same thing in a concert hall. Is there 
any place that is as bad as airplanes for people with 
disabilities?
    Mr. Page. Well, for ADA compliance, yes, you are right. 
That is title III, public accommodations. You have got the 
ballpark. You have also got transportation compliance under the 
ADA for all mass transit, like Greyhound, city buses, the 
subway, Amtrak.
    Currently, right now, the airlines are governed under a 
different law, the Air Carrier Access Act, which passed 4 years 
before the ADA. So, that is why I am advocating for a standard 
of access for a path of travel to get on the plane in a 
wheelchair. That way I would avoid the aisle chair, which is a 
lot of times where myself and people with disabilities 
encounter injury, because you have to transfer on the slope of 
the jetway.
    As I mentioned, this aisle chair is a pretty precarious 
device. It is tippy. And then the persons that have assisted me 
in the past, they are used to pushing, truthfully, little old 
ladies from point A to point B, and then they stand up and walk 
on the plane. I am a person--as I said, I am 6 feet, 200 
pounds, and deadweight. So----
    Mr. Cohen [interrupting]. Thank you, thank you, sir.
    Ms. Pinkerton, let me ask you my final question. You heard 
Mr. Page's testimony. What can you tell us the airlines can or 
will do to help people like him, who are veterans, who are 
injured, and have difficulty getting out?
    They are dead if you don't do something about it. What can 
you do to make airplanes more--the seat sizes larger, the pitch 
better, the width better to improve the passenger experience, 
but also the safety?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Two parts to my answer. One, I want the 
committee to know we are committed to doing a better job in 
making sure that folks with disabilities are able to travel 
safely and comfortably. Our CEOs very recently in the last 
couple of months publicly announced that they were recommitting 
to improving wheelchair damage issues. They are creating 
advisory boards at each of their companies, and inviting the 
disability community to be on those advisory boards, and they 
committed to frontline training of their employees. I think 
those three actions are critical and demonstrate our 
commitment.
    With respect to the seat size, frankly, Congressman, for 
the A4A carriers, our seats are actually getting bigger. They 
are not getting smaller. We are putting in bigger seats in the 
premium economy. Our smallest seats, which are on our regional 
planes--unfortunately, 50-seat planes are going away, which is 
not good for small community service. But as a result of those 
two trends, essentially, I would say for our carriers, seats 
our actually getting bigger.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you very much. I would just suggest--I 
took a flight to Atlanta recently, and I was between two people 
who I guess you could call husky. You ought to find a way to 
just have one person in a row that is a husky.
    I will yield back.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. The gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. 
Massie, is recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Massie. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Dolliole--over here--Mr. Dolliole, my colleague, Mr. 
Crawford, asked you about flexibility in the Airport 
Improvement Program, which are Federal dollars that come back 
to the airports. And you lamented the fact that there was a 
shortage in revenue, that flexibility would help in that 
program, but you still needed more funds. Can you talk about 
the other sources of revenue that airports have and how that 
plays into it?
    Particularly--my followup question is going to be about the 
passenger facility charge.
    Mr. Dolliole. Good, OK. The airports have different funding 
sources to use for capital projects: of course, the PFC 
program; the AIP grant program; and airport funds that remain 
and are usable after all expenses are taken care of are pretty 
much the bigger pots. And right now, we have the temporary BIL 
program that will run for another 3 years.
    Now, you heard the stats earlier that there is $30 billion 
a year in need in airport infrastructure development. Those 
funds combined, over airports--the AIP program, PFCs, airport 
revenues--equate to about $13 billion a year. So, there is 
still a big gap. So, something has to give, or something has to 
be done to start closing that gap.
    The PFC program--when it was stood up in 1990 at $3, and 10 
years later it was about up to $4.50--has lost value over time 
with inflation. So, it doesn't buy you the same thing it did 
then. Bumping the PFC would be a very significant help, and it 
would be airports self-generating the funds from local users of 
airports and airport facilities.
    So, it is a big gap. And again, the flexibility would help. 
But really, we need to bump the programs and provide more 
funding.
    Mr. Massie. Sometimes when Congress wants to raise taxes, 
we call it a user fee as a euphemism. But the passenger 
facility charge never goes into our coffers here at the Federal 
Government.
    Mr. Dolliole. Right.
    Mr. Massie. It truly is a user fee, because it goes from 
the user to the airport. Can you talk about how you use those 
fees responsibly and what you would do if we did increase the 
cap for the first time in many years, allowing you to collect 
your own revenue?
    Mr. Dolliole. With the big infrastructure needs, a lot of 
it in terminals and landside. What the PFC program does is 
gives you the flexibility to use those funds in those areas, as 
opposed to everything on the airfield. The AIP program is more 
geared to airfield improvement.
    So, as PFC revenues increase, airports have a better 
ability to improve terminals, improve the airfield, as well. We 
can use those funds on the airfield. They can provide matches 
to grants that we receive in picking up that gap. And the more 
we can do with grants and with the PFC program, it is less we 
have to do with debt and less costs that flow down to the air 
carriers that fly in and out of our facilities.
    So, we are always, as airport operators, we are 
consistently looking for ways to fund our needs. And I can tell 
you, I have been a CEO in three airports. The needs were 
different in each. And we adapt to the needs. New Orleans, the 
new terminal was essential. In St. Louis, we went through a 
significant upgrade of the existing facilities, and that was 
sufficient there. In San Antonio, a new terminal and concourse 
was needed to replace a World War II facility. So, it is 
different needs everywhere.
    None of us are out building monuments to our greatness. It 
is just the essential needs in those communities. And the PFC 
program has gone a long way in helping us develop those 
facilities, but it is losing value with inflation.
    Mr. Massie. I am sorry I don't have much time, Mr. Santa, 
but I had a question for you. And hopefully, the chairman will 
indulge me and allow you to answer it if I go over time.
    We have seen recent reports, and I don't know if they are 
true, or apocryphal, or if these are things that happened in 
the past and we just didn't pay attention. But we have seen 
recent reports of--I don't know how you characterize them, but 
I will call them near-misses when planes are taking off and 
landing and get closer than we are comfortable with at 
airports. I have seen those in social media. I don't know if it 
is more than normal.
    Can you let the public know, is there an increased number 
of those incidents? And if so, what do you think the cause is?
    Mr. Santa. Well, some of the recent events that have been 
in the news, they are troubling for us. It is an increased 
amount of risk that we are unwilling to accept right now. But 
they really are inspired and invoked, unfortunately, by lack of 
staffing. When you control more traffic with less operational 
positions, you introduce risk into the system.
    Now, the NTSB is investigating those. We partner with them. 
We are part of the investigation to ensure that we learn from 
those events, and we don't repeat those. But ultimately, 
working more traffic, 6-day workweeks, and 10-hour days 
introduces risks to the system.
    Mr. Massie. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. The ranking member of the full 
committee, Mr. Larsen, is recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Larsen of Washington. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. 
Chair. Just to answer Representative Massie's question, I would 
like to enter for the record the Safety Alert for Operators 
from the U.S. DOT, which was the readout from the Aviation 
Summit, which partially answers the Member's question. So, 
without objection?
    OK, without a chair . . .
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Without objection.
    [The information follows:]

                                 
 Safety Alert for Operators No. 23002, March 22, 2023, Distributed by 
 Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Submitted 
                   for the Record by Hon. Rick Larsen


http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/
airline_safety/safo
_______________________________________________________________________

A SAFO contains important safety information and may include 
recommended action. Besides the specific action recommended in a SAFO, 
an alternative action may be as effective in addressing the safety 
issue named in the SAFO. The contents of this document do not have the 
force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any 
way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public 
regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.

Subject: Aviation Safety Call to Action.

Purpose: This SAFO informs the aviation community that several highly 
visible and notable recent events demonstrate the need for continued 
vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks. This SAFO 
applies to all aircraft operations conducted under Title 14 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Parts 91, 91 subpart K (Part 91K), 121, 
125, 129, and 135.

Background: In recent months, a number of notable and high visibility 
events have occurred in the National Airspace System (NAS). While the 
overall numbers do not reflect an increase in incidents and 
occurrences, the potential severity of these events is concerning. Six 
serious runway incursions have occurred since January 2023, including 
an incident at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City 
involving a taxiing aircraft narrowly avoiding a departing aircraft and 
a landing aircraft coming within 100 feet of a departing aircraft at 
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas.
    In February 2023, the acting Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA) issued a Call to Action comprised of a series of 
events and initiatives to ensure focus and attention on risks to the 
aviation system. Senior leaders from the FAA, other government 
agencies, commercial and general aviation operators, labor partners and 
others attended a Safety Summit on March 15, 2023. Attendees discussed 
these recent incidents, as well as ways to enhance aviation safety.

Discussion: Safety management requires adapting to continual change. 
Effective safety management is designed to detect emerging safety 
issues, assess the level of risk and address those risks through 
mitigations. Those mitigations may be a change in processes, procedures 
or training. Operators should evaluate information collected through 
their safety management processes, identify hazards, increase and 
improve safety communications with employees and enact mitigations. 
Safety management systems, policies and procedures must be able to 
account for a high rate of change.

Recommended Action: Recent events have highlighted several areas of 
focus. Directors of Operations, Chief Pilots, Directors of Training, 
Check Airmen, Directors of Safety, Program Managers, Pilots and 
Operators should review the following items and consider taking 
additional steps to ensure operations are conducted at the highest 
level of safety, including changes to procedures or training, if 
appropriate.
      Use all available internal communication processes to 
specifically highlight recent events and existing issues.
      Reinforce adherence to published processes and 
procedures, including checklists, Air Traffic Control instructions, and 
internal company procedures.
      Ensure pilots and flight attendants have the same 
understanding of what ``sterile flight deck'' means and the risks 
associated with extraneous communication during this time.
      Explore helpful resources available for all pilots at: 
FAA Safety Team--FAASafety.gov.
      Encourage crews to diligently follow Crew Resource 
Management (CRM) procedures and principles to control workload and 
reduce distractions.
      Encourage personnel to identify and report existing and 
emerging safety issues through voluntary reporting programs and 
understand the usefulness of the voluntary reporting system.
      Review information about runway safety here: Runway 
Safety--Federal Aviation Administration (faa.gov).
      Review the following previously published SAFOs:
      +  17012, High Collision Risk During Runway Crossing;
      +  11004, Runway Incursion Prevention Actions;
      +  08001, Flightcrew techniques and procedures to enhance taxi, 
pre-takeoff, and after landing safety to reduce the risk of runway 
incursions.
      Apply Safety Management System principles to analyze 
safety data and assess risk associated with emerging hazards. Evaluate 
existing risk mitigations to determine if they are effectively 
controlling risk, or if additional action is required.

Contact: Questions or comments regarding this SAFO should be directed 
to the Air Transportation Division at [email protected] 
or the General Aviation & Commercial Division at 9-AFS-800-
[email protected].

    Mr. Larsen of Washington. Thank you very much.
    For Mr. Santa, though, what do your members view as the 
primary issues contributing to these incidents, and what is 
your top recommendation for addressing them?
    Mr. Santa. Thank you for the question. I am going to go 
right back to my previous answer.
    Staffing is a challenge. Technology increases or capacities 
are a challenge. Funding is a challenge. We can talk about 
every one of those individually, but when you are working more 
traffic, and you are combining sectors, and you are under 
control of more airspace with more frequency congestion and the 
lack of tools to accomplish that, you have less redundancy, 
less resiliency, less eyes working a specific amount of 
traffic. It can introduce risk into the system.
    We need to increase the amount of certified professional 
air traffic controllers. And fortunately, we have a solution. 
It has not been implemented by the FAA at this point. It is a 
collaborative decision that needs to be introduced to the FAA's 
Controller Workforce Plan because what has been introduced for 
the past 10-plus years has resulted in a huge attrition through 
our 313 facilities to a number of 1,200 less controllers in a 
workforce that only has 10,500 certified professional 
controllers right now.
    It is a staggering amount, and it results in 6-day 
workweeks, 10-hour days, reduction of positions that are open.
    Mr. Larsen of Washington. Can I ask you, do you have a 
specific timeline? If this workforce plan was in place, and 
given attrition and production in the pipeline, how many 
months, how many years would it take to come to that number 
that is necessary to deal with the amount of traffic that we 
have?
    Mr. Santa. If the new collaborative Controller Workforce 
Plan is implemented, and it is funded, and it is supported in 
its entirety, we are still going to have a few years of 
challenges due to the amount of time it takes to certify, 1 to 
3 years, and the amount of attrition just in new hires of about 
40 percent.
    But we can comfortably get better every single day because 
our training initiatives and our training programs are robust. 
We are working towards more effective training, quicker, but 
still energized and still accurate training so that we have the 
best aviation professionals working safely.
    Mr. Larsen of Washington. And briefly, Ms. Pinkerton, A4A 
is 100 percent supportive of this action, is that correct?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Absolutely. We agree, and staffing and 
technology--on the technology front, not to talk about 
individual incidents, but in Austin they don't have the 
surveillance technology that most other airports have. Austin 
is the fastest growing airport in this country, and it needs to 
have that surveillance technology.
    Mr. Larsen of Washington. Great. Mr. Page, what is the 
single most--we are trying to think it through, like, this FAA 
bill we are putting together, so, I am trying to hone in on 
what is the one thing, right?
    So, what is the single most important thing that DOT can do 
to improve the travel experiences for passengers with 
disabilities, from your point of view?
    Mr. Page. Thank you for the question. From our perspective, 
as I mentioned, basically standards and more enforcement of the 
Air Carrier Access Act.
    As you know, all other modes of transportation in this 
country are governed by ADA and the Department of Justice. And 
DOT right now--well, as a--in order to gain better access for 
people with wheelchairs, you need a path to travel to get on 
the airplane, and then go to a seat, and make that transfer. 
That way you would alleviate the problems of the aisle chair. 
And then you could store the wheelchair under the cabin, or 
some manual chairs inside the cabin in a closet or, if you are 
in a power wheelchair----
    Mr. Larsen of Washington [interrupting]. Can I stop you 
there, because I have 20 seconds left. Yesterday you gave me a 
number. Can you describe--not describe. What is the cost of, 
say, the chair you use versus the cost of someone with a higher 
level of disability versus, like----
    Mr. Page [interposing]. Yes, yes, yes.
    Mr. Larsen of Washington [continuing]. The one at the 
hospital?
    Mr. Page. Yes, there is a significant cost. I mean, as you 
know, to get this type of chair, I get a doctor's prescription. 
It is about $4,000 or $5,000 for my chair. A big power chair 
can be anywhere between $25,000, $30,000, or $40,000. So, when 
these things get damaged, damage can be minor, such as ripped 
upholstery. Especially the big power chairs, if their power 
drive is damaged, in the case of our members, the VA comes and 
fixes them. But a lot of the airlines have contractors to do 
the fixing.
    Also, the question is timely fix, and what do we do in the 
meantime?
    Mr. Larsen of Washington. Thank you. I yield back.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. The gentleman yields back. The 
gentleman from Minnesota is recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Stauber. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was conferring with my 
good friend Mr. Massie on some things.
    First off, thank you all for being here.
    To our air traffic controller, I wouldn't take your job for 
anything, or your jobs. You are doing 6, 8, 10, 12 things. I 
come from the law enforcement background, and I know that 911 
dispatchers are the first call-takers that keep us all safe and 
get what we need going. So, I want to thank you for what you 
and the other professionals have done, like I do always to our 
911 dispatchers and communication specialists.
    I will also say that we have had some folks here talk about 
airports. I want to tell you that I am proud of the 
international airport in my hometown, the Duluth International 
Airport, and I am also proud of the Minneapolis airport. I 
think those are two of the finest facilities to fly into. And 
as you know, Minneapolis is rated the number-one airport in the 
country.
    So, I just want to say that aviation is so critically 
important to our economy. I really appreciate the comments.
    And as I was talking to Mr. Massie, you know, the PFC and 
the AIP grants--and I spoke to some airport executive directors 
just yesterday--what I really think that we in Washington, DC, 
have to understand is those executive directors at the airport, 
they make the best decisions for their airport. Now, what is 
needed in Duluth, Minnesota, may not be needed in Sioux Falls, 
South Dakota, or Butte, Montana, or Dallas, Texas. And so, I 
come from local government, and I believe in local control. And 
I trust our local officials to make the best decision for their 
respective airports.
    So, with that being said, my wife and I also are blessed to 
have a special needs child who has Down syndrome, and it is 
severe and profound, so, he is at the lowest level of the 
scale. And to fly with him is a bit tough. And I would say that 
the question I would ask is--and I appreciate all of the 
comments--the question I would ask is to Mr. Dolliole:You have 
mentioned some things, but what have you done for the 
disability community to make it easier?
    And I will just tell you that my child has difficulty in 
the narrow seats. He has difficulty meeting the connections 
because his walking is slow. What have you done to facilitate 
the passenger travel for those with disabilities? Because I 
think it is extremely important, because when we can do that, 
we will take our child more places, right? Because the factor 
of our child having a disability plays into our decision of 
flying. And so, could you just elaborate on that, please?
    Mr. Dolliole. OK. I will give you first just a real quick 
general on airports overall. In the BIL program, the FAA's ATP 
component of it, Airport Terminal Program, of the funds that 
airports have applied for and been awarded through that 
program, about 60 percent of the projects have accessibility 
and ADA issues dealt with in their programs.
    In New Orleans, we were fortunate in developing a new 
terminal. Instead of modifying our facilities, we built in 
things that help accommodate those with disabilities, adjusting 
the countertop heights, the countertop heights are set. The 
parking positions on gates at airside is very important, as it 
drives the slope on your jet bridges and your jet bridge--the 
slope has to meet certain requirements to effectively 
accommodate the disabled. Adult-sized changing tables were 
built into our facility. Unisex and companion care restrooms 
were built in. Prayer and meditation rooms were part of it. We 
have comfort dog programs. We have the Hidden Disabilities 
Sunflower Program, which uses a lanyard to identify travelers 
with hidden disabilities.
    And our volunteer workforce has----
    Mr. Stauber [interrupting]. And I think that--I just have a 
short amount of time. I really appreciate that.
    Mr. Dolliole. OK.
    Mr. Stauber. The idea that you recognize where children and 
people have disabilities is extremely important. Those of us 
who are blessed need that assistance from you. So, I would say 
continue to keep it up. And I just appreciate the list that you 
gave us.
    And Mr. Massie and I will continue our conversation in a 
moment, and I yield back, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. The gentleman from Georgia, Mr. 
Johnson, is recognized for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I 
commend the chair for such a wonderful and diverse panel that 
we have today. And I thank the witnesses for your testimony.
    Aviation plays a central role in our national economy, from 
expanding our industries to connecting people to their loved 
ones. And our disabled citizens and people in America are no 
different than the nonphysically disabled, and they deserve to 
be able to connect with their loved ones and participate in our 
economy just as everyone else.
    It pains me to hear the experience of Mr. Page in having to 
go through a torturous journey in order to get to his seat on 
an airplane, and to be about the business that he is about, 
which is the senior associate director of advocacy, Paralyzed 
Veterans of America.
    I mean, so many of our citizens who have given to our 
country through their service to our military, and they, for 
whatever reason, end up disabled, they deserve to be able to 
participate in seeing their families and in attending funerals, 
business conferences, going on vacation. It should be something 
that those veterans who have given so much to us, they should 
be able to enjoy.
    And not just veterans, but just everyday disabled people. 
They are intelligent. They are college graduates, like Mr. 
Page. They have jobs that contribute to the welfare of us all. 
They make a contribution, and we have to find a way to make it 
easier for them to travel on airlines. I appreciate what the 
airlines have done, what the airports have done, and what the 
employees do to support our disabled. But we must do more.
    Mr. Page, thank you for your service to the country. 
Airline employees and contractors are responsible for properly 
handling cargo, which, for passengers with disabilities, 
includes mobility aids such as wheelchairs. However, too often 
we see that this equipment isn't being handled with the 
appropriate care required under Federal law. For example, last 
year we saw many Paralympians arriving at Atlanta Hartsfield-
Jackson Airport to compete in the July 4th annual AJC Peachtree 
Road Race. Another one is coming up this year, annual affair. 
Numerous passengers reported damages to their wheelchairs and, 
for some, their chairs never even arrived.
    Can you speak to gaps in training among airline workers on 
the stowage and handling of specialty mobility aids that impact 
passengers with disabilities?
    Mr. Page. Well, thank you for the question. Yes. One of the 
big things--like, a lot of our members have gotten tired of 
having their wheelchairs damaged, and so, they drive to their 
destinations across the country.
    The below-the-wing personnel that assist in putting 
wheelchairs into the cargo hold, what would be needed is, when 
people get on the airplane, they take everything out of their 
wheelchair that they can possibly take into the aircraft, so it 
doesn't get damaged or lost in the cargo bin.
    The real deal is a lot of mobility devices that are larger 
or power-driven, depending on the aircraft, may have to be put 
on their side going up the conveyor belt, which is not 
necessarily the way it is designed. And that is because the 
cargo door opening might not be large enough to accommodate the 
wheelchair going into it.
    So, personnel have to adjust the assistive device to put it 
into the cargo hold in order to get the door closed. Once it is 
in the cargo hold, then hopefully they put it upright in its 
seated position. Other times it is surrounded by other baggage, 
or other issues that may be near or on top of the assistive 
device. But that is, in general, the way wheelchairs are loaded 
into the cargo, from the experience that I have known.
    Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Should there be better training?
    Mr. Page. We would hope--that is a good idea. I am not sure 
how the training for those employees is right now.
    Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you, and I yield back.
    Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer [presiding]. The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from South Dakota, Congressman Johnson.
    Mr. Johnson of South Dakota. Thank you, Madam Chair. One of 
the things that makes America so great is our national 
commitment to infrastructure. I think we understand that 
interstate commerce means that we have these networks that bind 
us together. So, we have got Interstate Highway System and 
universal service and rural electrification. And of course, the 
Nation's air network is also one of these things that binds us 
together. And we know that the larger a network is, the more 
value it adds to everybody on the network.
    And so, that makes me think about my very rural State, 
where in 80,000 square miles we only have two non-EAS airports. 
And so, the three EAS airports are incredibly important to that 
passenger experience.
    I know we think the passenger experience starts when people 
walk into the terminal, or maybe when they park at the 
terminal. But the reality is that, if not for the EAS program, 
there would be South Dakotans who would have a 400-mile round 
trip before they got to the airport.
    And so, Ms. Pinkerton, talk to me a little bit about the 
EAS impact on the rural passenger experience.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Absolutely. The EAS program is a critical 
part of that network that you talk about. Airlines are 
committed to ensuring that we continue to operate a network 
that serves small communities.
    I will say there are a lot of challenges on small community 
service right now, whether it is a healthy EAS program or the 
pilot supply issues that are impacting small community service 
in particular that need to be addressed. But as airlines, we 
want everyone to fly, and those rural communities are a 
critical part of that robust network.
    Mr. Johnson of South Dakota. And of course, you and I are 
both talking in code, but EAS means Essential Air Service. I 
should have said that. And of course, it is a longstanding 
program.
    As Congress looks to the future, ma'am, how should we 
approach EAS?
    Ms. Pinkerton. That is a tough one. We haven't necessarily 
taken a detailed position on the Essential Air Service program. 
I can tell you some of our carriers are active participants, 
some are not.
    But I think, from our perspective, obviously, there are 
moneys that are used from overflight fees right now that help 
fund that program. And I think the program needs to be 
evaluated to make sure it makes sense and is rational. From our 
perspective, I would say the most important policy issue that 
we are struggling with when it comes to small community and 
medium community service is the pilot supply program.
    Mr. Johnson of South Dakota. You mentioned in your oral 
testimony that the 50-seat airplanes are moving out of service. 
And that particularly impacts rural communities, you said. Talk 
to me about what is going on there.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Well, essentially, I am sad to say that 
several of our network carriers have identified the fact that, 
with the regional flying, they are simply not able to hire 
enough pilots. And if you don't have the pilots to fly, what 
you do instead is use larger planes so that you are flying 
maybe the same amount of people, but you are only flying once a 
day with a larger plane.
    So, that has been a discussion with us in the pilot 
community. We have increased the wages now of regional pilots 
to try and address some of those issues. But I think there is 
still an issue with how expensive it is to become a commercial 
pilot. I mean, you not only have a 4-year or 2-year education, 
but then you have the training to get your 1,500 hours, and 
that takes a lot of money.
    And that is why I was very appreciative of those who have 
supported the student loan bill to help pilots and mechanics 
bear that cost.
    Mr. Johnson of South Dakota. And so, it isn't a problem 
with the fleet, the planes themselves. It really just comes 
down to the human power.
    Ms. Pinkerton. The human problem, and the economics of the 
service, yes.
    Mr. Johnson of South Dakota. Yes. All right. Thanks very 
much.
    Madam Chair, I would yield back.
    Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer. Thank you. The Chair recognizes Ms. 
Davids from Kansas for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Davids of Kansas. Thank you, and thank you to Chairman 
Graves and Ranking Member Cohen for holding this hearing today.
    The FAA reauthorization is going to mean that 2023 is a 
critical year for this subcommittee. And we absolutely have an 
opportunity to shape the discussion about what the future of 
our national airspace looks like. And we obviously want to make 
sure that we remain the gold standard of safety for all 
airspace around the world.
    I mean, we have got some work to do. I can point to just in 
the last 6 months, we have seen the full-scale failure of the 
NOTAM system, a handful of incursions, and some near-misses on 
airport runways. And although these obviously represent a 
challenge, we still have the safest airspace in the world. And 
that reputation, I believe, is critical to inspire confidence 
amongst all of the people who fly every single day for work or 
pleasure or fun work. Just kidding.
    In the course of this reauthorization, though, we are going 
to have the responsibility of helping our domestic air carriers 
ensure that their customers are getting where they need to go. 
And that needs to be both safe and affordable and timely.
    I have been hearing from some of my constituents about 
frustrations revolving around ancillary fees that they might be 
encountering while they are traveling, whether it is baggage 
fees, the refund process, fees for families sitting together. 
And I know that the U.S. Department of Transportation has 
implemented the Airline Customer Service Dashboard to help give 
consumers a quick-glance view of the progress that is being 
made by airlines in getting this work done.
    With only three domestic carriers guaranteeing adjacent 
seats for children under 13 and an accompanying adult at no 
additional cost, I think it would be helpful to understand the 
inflationary pressures, whether it is rising costs of fuel, how 
that sort of thing impacts businesses in ways that maybe a lot 
of folks don't understand. But I do think that we can't just 
expect all of the costs to be passed along in the form of fees.
    And so, I am curious, Ms. Pinkerton, if you could just give 
the committee a bit of a level-set on the ancillary fees, on 
maybe what your member airlines are doing to simplify the fee 
structure to make it easier for consumers to understand, and 
then maybe what the work with DOT is looking like to ensure 
that the consumers understand the fees and have as enjoyable an 
experience as possible.
    Ms. Pinkerton. I am happy to, because it is in our interest 
to have our passengers have a good experience because we want 
repeat customers. I will take a couple of the themes that you 
mentioned.
    With respect to family seating, though--and by the way, I 
applaud the Department's dashboard, because we are all for 
transparency. It is great. The problem, though, is, in 
particular on the family sitting together, they have a very 
prescriptive approach. For example, they chose the age 14. 
Well, there are carriers who are doing everything they want, 
but they chose age 13 or 12. And I think the problem with a 
kind of a one-size-fits-all with respect to some of these 
issues is that it commoditizes air travel in a way that 
actually hurts competition.
    And I can assure you that having robust competition is the 
best way to ensure that customers get the best product at the 
best price. And deregulation has shown that. Airfares in real 
terms are 55 percent below what they were. We serve more 
communities now than we ever have. You have more competitors 
per origin and destination today than you have ever had.
    And frankly, again, to take it back to family seating, you 
mentioned a family seating fee. None of our carriers charge a 
family seating fee. That was a great talking point. I 
understand that. But our carriers have great policies. They are 
on the DOT's website. They are on their website. We have a 
website. So, we are very transparent about them. But I am 
afraid that having this fee, which some carriers did have, not 
A4A carriers, is being conflated with basic economy, which is 
simply--again, it is part of competition.
    You have got ultra-low-cost carriers, you have got low-cost 
carriers, and then you have got some network carriers. You have 
got Southwest that doesn't charge bag or seating fees. You have 
got the network carriers that, if you are part of their loyalty 
program, you don't pay a fee. The beauty and diversity of our 
system is that there are choices.
    Ms. Davids of Kansas. Yes. Thank you so much, and I will 
look forward to continuing the conversation as we go through 
the reauthorization process.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Absolutely, happy to.
    Ms. Davids of Kansas. I yield back.
    Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer. Thank you. The Chair recognizes 
Chairman Graves for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam 
Chair, I was just out in the hallway, and I feel sorry for all 
those people that accidentally got in the TikTok hearing line 
that thought they were coming here. Awful.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. In any case, Mr. Dolliole, thanks 
again for being here. You and I have spent a lot of time 
talking about that curb-to-curb experience and discussed how 
you have a number of different stovepipe entities, whether it 
is a parking lot concessionaire, it is the retailer at the 
airport, it is the TSA or others that are running different 
components. You are the airport, and you have to deal with all 
these different entities. Can you just briefly describe how you 
work with these different entities to think through that 
passenger experience?
    Mr. Dolliole. I will give you an example of a curb-to-curb 
or curb-to-aircraft door type of service we offer.
    I mentioned in my opening that we have a remote parking 
garage with shuttle service. In that garage, as we were 
planning to move to the north terminal--that garage is on the 
south side of the airfield. With shuttle buses, if you are--if 
you have baggage you are going to check on a flight, it can be 
a bit of a hassle lugging luggage up the stairs of a shuttle 
bus, onto the bus, and then off on the other end. You allow a 
little more time to arrive at the airport, take the shuttle, 
check in at the airline ticket counter, and then proceed to the 
checkpoint.
    We have worked with our parking operator and a baggage 
handling service that is certified by the FAA and TSA to handle 
luggage for air carriers and set up a curbside check-in program 
inside that garage, so you can pull up in your vehicle, check 
your bags, get your boarding pass, then park and load the 
shuttle bus bag-free and hassle-free. When you get around to 
the north terminal, you go directly to the security checkpoint. 
You are already checked in, and nothing further to do in the 
terminal but go through security and off to your gate. So, that 
is one service.
    Then we had the touchless pay with concessionaires through 
the pandemic. We worked very closely with our concessionaires 
in the spooling down of their operations, providing plenty of 
information to them, and working with them hand in hand to 
spool down in a very organized way, and then continued 
providing information as this traffic was slowly coming back to 
a very organized and well thought-up ramping back up as traffic 
was coming back.
    So, we were able, in working in partnership with our 
concessionaires, to provide a good level of service for the 
traveling public throughout that period without putting undue 
burden on our concessionaires.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you. And I know you also 
offer valet parking at your airport, as well.
    Mr. Dolliole. Yes, valet parking.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. And based on your testimony and 
answers, it sounds like Ms. Burns prepared you well for this 
hearing today.
    Mr. Dolliole. OK.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Ms. Pinkerton, we talked earlier. 
And look, I am a huge fan of the apps. It is amazing, the 
convenience, all of the information right there, from where my 
bags are going to be at baggage claim, gate changes, everything 
that happens. Can you talk a little bit about your experience 
with the other entities and how you work together?
    And look, I want to be really candid. Air traffic control 
seems to be the kind of black box--and Mr. Santa, I want to be 
clear. I am not talking about the controllers. I am talking 
about the technology. We are operating an antiquated situation 
compared to some of the other aspects of this experience.
    Ms. Pinkerton?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Yes, absolutely. As I mentioned, air 
carriers have invested $26 billion in planes and $6 billion in 
2022 in technology for apps, giving our employees technologies 
that enable people to make connections instead of miss their 
connections. We have invested in our own operational systems. 
We are transferring a lot of on-campus systems to the cloud.
    And these are conversations, I think--unfortunately, we 
have great conversations with airports and work very closely 
together to make sure we have the finest facilities. But you 
are absolutely right. On the air traffic control side, I think 
that what we were talking about, the facilities and equipment 
funding--and again, since 2009 it has been flat. That is one 
thing.
    But accountability is another issue. So, there has been a 
lot of money spent, and not much progress has been made, 
frankly. And I think that it is going to require continued 
oversight of the FAA.
    It is not just the three programs I talked about, or even 
NOTAMs. NOTAMs are the tip of the iceberg in this system, I can 
assure you. The system in Miami, the ERAM system, Rich can talk 
about--STAR is another program.
    So, the number-one frustration for passengers is delays and 
cancellations----
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana [interposing]. Yes.
    Ms. Pinkerton [continuing]. Most of which, frankly, are 
caused by severe weather.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. I am out of time.
    Ms. Pinkerton. OK.
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana. I want to thank you.
    Look, Mr. Santa, I am really curious, and I am going to 
submit some questions for the record for you. I am just curious 
about--is it the acquisition system, is it the technology that 
is being used?
    And I apologize, I don't have time right now. I am going to 
have to submit questions for the record. But I really am 
curious about your perspective on this, and how we ultimately 
improve technology all across that entire experience. So, I 
apologize, I am out of time, but thank you for being here.
    And Madam Chair, I yield back.
    [Pause.]
    Mr. Graves of Louisiana [presiding]. It looks like I am the 
chair. I recognize the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Garcia.
    Mr. Garcia of Illinois. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And of 
course, thanks to all the witnesses for enriching the 
conversation as we move forward with FAA reauthorization.
    One of my main priorities for aviation amongst workforce 
and safety is consumer protections. And do you know what 
doesn't protect consumers? Greed, corporate greed. Airline 
mergers continue to cause market concentration and promote 
monopolistic practices in the industry. The corporate greed is 
further exacerbated when executives and shareholders pad their 
pockets with stock buybacks. It ultimately impacts the customer 
experience.
    Ms. Pinkerton, I want to ask you several questions. Brief 
replies would be much appreciated. What are your thoughts on 
airline CEOs jacking up the price of seat selections and 
baggage fees to again pad the pockets of their shareholders?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Congressman, respectfully, airfares are as 
low as they have ever been. They are 55 percent lower than they 
were when we deregulated.
    So, there are carriers that charge fees. There are carriers 
that don't. But all of that, when you look at fares and fees 
together, people are paying less in real terms than they ever 
have before, and that is why they are flocking to fly. That is 
why demand is so strong.
    Mr. Garcia of Illinois. And I fly Southwest, so, I get that 
point. But others do charge.
    And now that the Payroll Support Program has expired, what 
is your perspective on airline CEOs racking up in profits on 
stock buybacks, while cutting jobs or lowering wages? Is that 
fair?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Actually, airline employees, their average 
wage is 37 percent higher than the average American job. We 
have good jobs, good-paying jobs.
    There has been a lot of conversation. The stock buyback 
restrictions were part of PSP. We fully complied with that. I 
do want you to know in the past we--so, we looked at our 
revenues coming in: 59 percent go to our people, 20 percent get 
reinvested in our product, 13 percent go to pay debt, and 8 
percent go to stock buybacks and dividends. So, that is a 
pretty good priority, if you ask me.
    Mr. Garcia of Illinois. But now the program has expired, as 
you point out. We have got to make sure that corporations are 
investing in workers, product safety, supply chains, and not 
continuing to buy back their own stock.
    We have got to adjust the skyrocketing cost of airline 
tickets by preventing price gouging and unfair practices when 
they occur by corporate airlines. We must lower prices and 
invest in our workforce, not continue to buy stock back. And 
that is why I introduced the Reward Work Act to protect our 
airline consumers.
    Mr. Page, how important is it to have a stable, experienced 
service workforce to support travelers?
    And how will establishing strong wage and benefit standards 
for service workers at our Nation's airports help make the 
airports safer and more accessible for passengers who utilize 
wheelchair assistance?
    Mr. Page. Thank you for the question. Yes, I think that is 
a very good and fair question, especially since, as I 
mentioned, one of the functions to get me on and off the 
airplane is the access with the aisle chair. A lot of times, 
depending on the airport, depending on the airline, airline 
employees will do that function. Sometimes it is contracted out 
to airport employees or others. I don't know who they are 
specifically, but they will wear different vests or badges or 
jackets.
    But the reality is, a higher paying job might induce better 
service.
    Mr. Garcia of Illinois. Thank you.
    Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter into the record the 
Center for American Progress report entitled, ``Airport Service 
Workers Deserve Good Jobs.''
    The report shows the unacceptable conditions for many 
working people and travelers are happening while airlines 
receive $13 billion in our public resources every year.
    If there is no objection.
    Mr. Collins [presiding]. Without objection.
    [The information follows:]

                                 
 Introduction and Summary of Report, ``Airport Service Workers Deserve 
  Good Jobs,'' by Karla Walter and Aurelia Glass, Center for American 
    Progress, March 2023, Submitted for the Record by Hon. Jesus G. 
                            ``Chuy'' Garcia
[The introduction and summary of the report appear below. The report is 
available in its entirety online at https://www.americanprogress.org/
article/airport-service-workers-deserve-good-jobs/.]
               Airport Service Workers Deserve Good Jobs
by Karla Walter and Aurelia Glass

Center for American Progress, March 2023
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/airport-service-workers-
deserve-good-jobs/
                        Introduction and summary
    Airport service workers--including cleaners, wheelchair agents, 
baggage handlers, ticketing agents, caterers, concessions workers, 
passenger service agents, and lounge workers--are at a breaking point. 
Although they have provided essential services throughout the pandemic 
and are supporting the safe return to normalized travel, these workers 
are typically paid substandard wages and receive few benefits. Now, 
airport workers across the United States are calling on Congress to 
require major airports--which receive billions of dollars in federal 
support every year--to ensure that passenger air travel employers 
provide good jobs with the family-sustaining compensation necessary to 
maintain their health and well-being.\1\ Doing so would improve the 
lives of these essential workers; boost equity in a federally supported 
sector; and support safe and efficient airport services across the 
country.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Passenger air travel employers include airports and passenger 
airlines, as well as firms with contracts and leases to provide onsite 
services and concessions. U.S. Government Accountability Office, 
``Airport Infrastructure: Information on Funding and Financing for 
Planned Projects'' (Washington: 2020), available at https://
www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-298.pdf; Rebecca Kanable, ``Airport Workers 
Say Federal Funding Should Come with Wage and Benefit Assurances, Some 
in Congress Agree,'' Aviation Pros, October 7, 2021, available at 
https://www.aviationpros.com/airports/article/21241507/airport-workers-
say-federal-funding-should-come-with-wage-and-benefit-assurances; 
Michael Sainato, ``Airport workers ramp up pressure for a living wage 
and union rights,'' The Guardian, April 8, 2022, available at https://
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/08/airport-workers-union-wages-
conditions; Good Jobs for Good Airports Act of 2022, S. 4419, 117th 
Cong., 2nd sess. (June 16, 2022), available at https://
www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4419.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    U.S. airport workers face many of the same challenges plaguing 
Americans across the economy, such as growing inequality, occupational 
segregation, and inadequate compensation. However, for airport service 
workers, these problems are compounded by subsidized industry 
employers--including airlines, airports, and contractors--that have 
drastically cut wages and benefits in recent decades.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Miranda Dietz, Peter Hall, and Ken Jacobs, ``Course Correction: 
Reversing Wage Erosion to Restore Good Jobs at American Airports'' 
(Berkeley, CA: UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, 
2013), available at https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/pdf/2013/
restore_good_jobs_american_airports.pdf; Brian Callaci, ``Fissuring in 
Flight: Consolidation and Outsourcing in the US Domestic Airline 
Industry, 1997-2018'' (Washington: Communications Workers of America, 
2020), available at https://cwa-union.org/sites/default/files/20200108-
fissuring-in-flight.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Today, median wages for many airport service workers, including 
cleaners, wheelchair agents, ticketing and check-in agents, and baggage 
handlers, fall below the private sector median of $20.40 per hour. For 
example, according to 2015-2019 American Community Survey data, the 
median earnings for aircraft cleaners are just $13.99 per hour.\3\ Much 
of the workforce does not receive employer-provided health coverage, 
and for those that do, the insurance is often unaffordable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ This analysis covers workers who reported working 50 to 52 
weeks the preceding year within survey waves from 2015 to 2019. For 
more details, see Methodology.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Moreover, these low wages have a disproportionate impact on people 
of color, who are highly represented in airport service occupations. 
The majority of workers in several service occupations are Black or 
Hispanic--or both--compared with 28.7 percent across the private sector 
workforce.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ A majority of baggage handlers, passenger attendants, and 
aircraft cleaners analyzed in this sample identified as either Black or 
African American or Hispanic or Latino, or both, based on the authors' 
calculations using data from Steven Ruggles and others, ``Integrated 
Public Use Microdata Series, Version 12.0, U.S. Census Data for Social, 
Economic, and Health Research, 2015-2019 American Community Survey: 5-
year estimates'' (Minneapolis: Minnesota Population
Center, 2022), available at https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V12.0.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This report supports the case for raising standards for these 
workers by:
      Providing new analysis on low pay and occupational 
segregation in the national aviation industry
      Explaining how the federal government provides billions 
of dollars in funding for airports every year
      Detailing state and local efforts to raise standards for 
essential airport service workers
      Surveying existing evidence that raising standards for 
airport workers will improve their lives and result in good value for 
the public

    Low industry wages and inadequate benefits do not harm only 
workers. Coupled with the tight labor market and high turnover, airline 
and airport employers are failing to maintain a well-qualified 
workforce, thereby harming the American public as well. Labor 
instability and inexperience in the industry are reducing airport 
safety and security and leading to travel slowdowns.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Ian Duncan, ``TSA asks office staff for help, offers bonuses 
and mandates overtime to keep airport checkpoints moving,'' The 
Washington Post, June 9, 2021, available at https://
www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/06/09/tsa-checkpoints-
summer-travel/; Robert Silk, ``Groundworker shortage a problem for 
airlines,'' Travel Weekly, September 4, 2021, available at https://
www.travelweekly.com/Robert-Silk/Groundworker-shortage-a-problem-for-
airlines.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Airport and airline service workers are relied on to be part of the 
response to emergencies such as extreme weather, active shooter 
situations, and terrorist attacks.\6\ And although air industry 
employers have received billions of dollars in pandemic assistance to 
cover payroll costs, in recent months many passengers have missed 
flights and been left without critical assistance due to the failure of 
airlines to retain enough wheelchair attendants.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ California Assembly Select Committee on Local Emergency 
Preparedness, ``Active Shooter Emergency Response: Lessons Learned from 
the LAX Shooting'' (Sacramento, CA: 2014), available at https://
www.assembly.ca.gov/sites/assembly.ca.gov/files/
Active%20Shooter%20LAX.pdf.
    \7\ See, for example, Nate Morabito, ``3 women abandoned by airline 
wheelchair workers at CLT Airport,'' WCNC Charlotte, June 9, 2022, 
available at https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/investigations/airline-
wheelchair-workers-abandoned-3-women-at-charlotte-airport/275-012eba4d-
8a3e-4d07-9a2f-30ed81ac5257.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A better way forward is possible. For nearly a century, federal 
policymakers have enacted standards to ensure that recipients of 
government spending pay fair wages, provide benefits, and support 
equitable access for workers from all walks of life.\8\ In 2021, 
President Joe Biden increased the contractor minimum wage to $15 per 
hour--indexed to inflation, this rate rose to $16.20 in 2023--
strengthened job security for contracted service workers, and called on 
all government agencies to review their procurement practices to 
support equity for all workers performing government services.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ Karla Walter, ``Ensuring Government Spending Creates Decent 
Jobs for Workers'' (Washington: Center for American Progress Action 
Fund, 2018), available at https://www.americanprogressaction.org/
article/ensuring-government-spending-creates-decent-jobs-workers/.
    \9\ The White House, ``Executive Order on Increasing the Minimum 
Wage for Federal Contractors,'' April 27, 2021, available at https://
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/27/
executive-order-on-increasing-the-minimum-wage-for-federal-contractors/
; The White House, ``Executive Order on Nondisplacement of Qualified 
Workers Under Service Contracts,'' November 18, 2021, available at 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/
18/executive-order-on-nondisplacement-of-qualified-workers-under-
service-contracts/; The White House, ``Executive Order on Advancing 
Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the 
Federal Government,'' January 20, 2021, available at https://
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/
executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-
communities-through-the-federal-government/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    However, the patchwork of protections for workers whose jobs are 
funded through government support is uneven. While workers in jobs 
funded through the federal contracting system enjoy numerous 
protections, these policies do not apply to service jobs performed on 
properties receiving federal grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other 
federally enabled spending programs. As a result, federal law leaves 
airport service workers unprotected. For example, the Center for 
American Progress' analysis found that the majority of workers employed 
nationwide as aircraft cleaners, as well as more than one-third of 
baggage handlers and ticketing agents, earn hourly wages below the 2023 
contractor minimum wage.
    In the absence of federal action, cities and states are fighting to 
raise standards for airport workers. For example, wheelchair attendants 
and baggage handlers at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport are paid a 
minimum of $18.00 per hour and receive benefits.\10\ And in March 2022, 
the City Council of Atlanta helped airport cleaners at Hartsfield-
Jackson Atlanta International Airport win a more than decadelong fight 
for wage increases.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ``Amended Rules for 
Implementation of Minimum Wage Policy for Non-Trade Labor Service 
Contracts--LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and 
Newark Liberty International Airport,'' October 15, 2018, available at 
https://www.panynj.gov/content/dam/airports/index/amended-wage-
rules.pdf/.
    \11\ Steve Gehlbach, ``Atlanta airport cleaners to get raises after 
13-year battle over minimum wage,'' WSB-TV, March 31, 2022, available 
at https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta-airport-cleaners-get-
raises-after-13-year-battle-over-minimum-wage/
H3JXWOSIVRHFXKH634YGKKKQZQ/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Yet in other jurisdictions across the United States, the lack of 
consistency across federally subsidized airports harms workers. Major 
hubs, such as Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, 
North Carolina, have no airport-specific pay standards for most airport 
service workers.\12\ Even across jurisdictions that have enacted 
airport worker standards, minimum pay standards vary considerably, and 
most communities have not taken action to require provision of health 
care and other essential benefits.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ See, for example, South Charlotte Weekly, ``Charlotte airport 
workers protest for better wages and benefits,'' December 9, 2022, 
available at https://www.thecharlotte-weekly.com/southcltweekly/
charlotte-airport-workers-protest-for-better-wages-and-benefits/
article_dd10b17c-77be-11ed-994f-73faa5292fb3.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In summer 2022, Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-
IL) introduced the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act to establish pay, 
benefits, and labor standards for airport service workers--including 
cleaners, wheelchair agents, baggage handlers, concessionaires, and 
security personnel.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ Good Jobs for Good Airports Act of 2022; Sen. Edward Markey, 
``Senator Markey and Rep. Garcia Introduce Legislation To Boost Pay, 
Benefits For Nation's Airport Workers,'' Press release, June 16, 2022, 
available at https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-
markey-and-rep-garca-introduce-legislation-to-boost-pay-benefits-for-
nations-airport-workers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Strong, federally mandated floors would help uphold equity and fair 
standards across the country; ensure that the government stands by its 
commitment to not subsidize poverty wages; and increase safety and 
efficiency across the national aviation system by supporting a well-
qualified workforce.

    Mr. Garcia of Illinois. Thank you, and I yield back.
    Mr. Collins. The Chair recognizes Mr. Gooden from Texas for 
5 minutes.
    Mr. Gooden of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank all the 
members of the panel. I also want to thank my friends at 
Airlines for America.
    I actually don't have any complaints about the passenger 
experience. I appreciate the fact that we have so many--well, 
don't thumbs up just yet. I have appreciation for the options 
that the American public has. If I want to fly an airline that 
doesn't charge for bags, then I perhaps don't pick a certain 
airline. If I want a no-frills experience, there are options 
out there. And I believe in the concept of just not choosing to 
fly a particular airline if I am not happy with the services 
they do or don't provide.
    There are two issues I do have a problem with, though, and 
these are things within the control. I also want to go back to 
some of the irregular operations.
    I feel for the American traveler that only flies once a 
year and has a bad experience, because I do believe those are 
one-off experiences. I fly every week, and for the most part it 
is good. Every once in a while it is bad, and usually it is out 
of the control of the airline. And I wish the average American 
citizen understood that. If they are not a frequent traveler, 
they don't.
    But I wish the airlines would calm down with the credit 
card ad pitches during the flight. Passengers are captive 
audience members, and my constituents that I have heard from, 
myself included, are tired of being forced to endure an 
advertisement every time they get on the plane. And in fact, 
some of those are misleading, because every time I fly I am 
told about a special offer that is available only today. And in 
the last year, I think I have probably heard 50 or so special 
offers that are available only today. So, I hope you will take 
that back.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gooden of Texas. Another issue that is very near and 
dear to me is the ongoing border crisis, and many of our 
carriers here are playing a large role in the transport and 
spread of illegal immigrants inside the country. In fact, miles 
are being donated back to airlines who transport illegal 
immigrants in exchange for shuttling illegal immigrants across 
the Nation.
    In November 2021, I raised concerns regarding the transport 
of illegal immigrants across the country by major U.S. 
airlines, including Southwest. Southwest responded to my 
concerns regarding their involvement with a rather lengthy, 
seemingly unresponsive letter. While they did not deny any of 
my allegations, they repeatedly asked me to discuss my concerns 
with Southwest before raising them. They also categorically 
stated that any concerns regarding the enforcement of 
immigration laws should be raised with the DHS or TSA instead.
    There have also been reports of minors traveling alone and 
being misplaced at airports. While we have been made aware of 
such cases due to the quick response shown by their families, 
there are possibly far more cases of unaccompanied children 
crossing the border illegally and at risk of being exploited or 
trafficked. But airlines like Southwest want no part in 
verifying these passengers.
    Major U.S. carriers like Delta came out opposing President 
Trump's zero tolerance policy in 2020. And I would ask Airlines 
for America, why don't these airlines transporting illegal 
immigrants and unaccompanied children at risk of being 
trafficked remain silent now?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Congressman, I am not steeped in that 
particular issue, I apologize. But I am happy to get our 
subject matter experts and get back to you.
    Mr. Gooden of Texas. Thank you. I will answer it for you, 
though, and the answer is they are making money off of this, 
and they are also concerned about being underwhelmingly woke, 
and I think that is disappointing. I wish airlines would stick 
to flying passengers, get away from credit cards, and follow 
the laws, and not assist in the border crisis. It is 
disappointing, and I hope airlines will work with me on that.
    I also--Mr. Dolliole--forgive me if I have mispronounced 
your name--I appreciate you joining us today.
    Last year, I was informed by the TSA that illegal 
immigrants without proper documentation were using arrest 
warrants as alternate forms of ID when presenting before 
airport security. This is not opinion; this is fact. Passengers 
without any identification use the arrest warrant that they 
were given at the border to get through security.
    We have also learned that in some of the less secure parts 
of the airports around baggage claim areas, they are easily 
accessible from the arrivals area, and baggage verification 
never happens, as we all know, be it from baggage--whether 
there is baggage threat or any kind of reckless activity.
    Do you think there are any measures that you, as an airport 
administrator, would suggest we enact to protect our passengers 
at the airport?
    Mr. Dolliole. I picked up every other word, I am sorry.
    Mr. Gooden of Texas. What specific measures, if you had any 
suggestions to improve passenger security at the airport, would 
you advocate for?
    Mr. Dolliole. Well, we do have many security measures in 
place, including LEO presence at our airports in key locations. 
The entirety of our facilities are monitored through our access 
control system. There are secure doors that keep people out of 
areas where they could do harm. And security is really very 
extensive in airports. There are many layers in security, not 
all that you see.
    But we do a really good job of keeping our facilities 
secure, and it is an ongoing and fluid area of the operation. 
As you find issues or potential vulnerabilities in your 
facility, you take steps to close those gaps, as well.
    Mr. Gooden of Texas. Thank you. And you have got a very 
fine airport down in New Orleans. Congratulations.
    Mr. Dolliole. Thank you.
    Mr. Gooden of Texas. Thank you. I yield back.
    Mr. Dolliole. Thank you.
    Mr. Collins. The Chair recognizes Mr. Payne from New Jersey 
for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Payne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I would like to ask 
our witnesses about accommodations for passengers with hearing 
loss who may not be able to hear announcements on board 
aircraft or in a busy airport.
    Ms. Pinkerton, passengers with cochlear implants often find 
it difficult to hear in-flight announcements, including 
potential delays or changes to flight status, due to the loud 
background noise from engines. What steps do airlines take to 
ensure all passengers are able to hear these announcements?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Thank you for the question. We have 
supported, since 2016, changes to the in-flight entertainment 
that is on the seatback that would allow you to read those 
instructions. I think Mr. Page can back me up here, where we 
agreed to that in 2016, and we are still waiting for DOT to 
act.
    Mr. Payne. OK, thank you.
    Now, Mr. Dolliole, passengers with hearing loss have 
reported similar concerns for announcements in the terminal. 
These can include boarding announcements, flight delays, gate 
changes, and announcements asking passengers to come to the 
ticket counter.
    Putting this information on electronic screens at the gate 
greatly aids travelers with hearing loss. Can you please share 
with us what airports do to accommodate these passengers and 
what improvements you can make?
    Mr. Dolliole. You touched it. The best way is the visual 
prompts or visual messaging on the FIDS monitors throughout the 
terminals. So, as announcements are being made, or critical 
announcements, it also scrolls on monitors for the hearing 
impaired to pick up what is being said.
    Mr. Payne. OK, I thank you. And it is sometimes a community 
that gets lost in these types of areas. So, I appreciate 
everything you can do in order to make the experience for the 
hearing impaired as pleasurable and easy as possible.
    So, with that, I will yield back.
    Mr. Collins. The Chair recognizes Mr. Kean for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Kean of New Jersey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank 
you to all of our witnesses who are here today.
    We are holding these hearings to focus on improving the 
passenger experience for airline passengers. That said, this 
committee is laser-focused on exploring new ways to make 
airline travel easier, quicker, and more efficient. This 
committee should strive to make the airline passenger 
experience, from the time they arrive first in the departure 
airport to when they leave the destination airport, as 
convenient and as enjoyable as possible. We can do this by 
deploying and prioritizing innovative technology for our 
airlines and those who work to keep our skies safe.
    By modernizing the NOTAM system, the FAA can avoid 
instances like the system outage on January 11th of this year. 
But we must not forget that safety is our first priority. As 
Ms. Pinkerton states in her written testimony, safety is and 
should be the bedrock of the industry.
    So, Ms. Pinkerton, what factors are within the airline's 
control when it comes to making sure that you can operate your 
schedules, and what factors can airlines not control, and what 
are you doing to control reliability and improve the 
reliability on those factors within your control?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Yes. So, the factors that are not within our 
control that cause most of the disruption in the system are 
weather. So, for 2022, weather was responsible for 53 percent 
of the cancellations, and the NAS was responsible for 10 
percent of the issues. Those aren't within our control.
    What is within our control is about 37 percent then, or 38 
percent of the issues. And a lot of that comes, frankly, from 
our crew timing out.
    As you might have heard in my opening statement, we have 
really done incredible work in the last 2 years. We have hired 
100,000 people. So, we are at an all-time high in terms of our 
employees, because we have learned you need to have more 
employees now to fly a smaller schedule. We are still flying 10 
percent less than we flew in 2019. So, getting people is within 
our control, and then making sure they are trained and 
proficient on their job is the next thing that we can do.
    Again, safety is our top priority, and we have identified 
ensuring our folks are trained and proficient as being one of 
the most important things that we can do.
    But again, most of the systems issues are not within our 
control.
    Mr. Kean of New Jersey. And when it comes to FAA 
reauthorization, what should the committee be addressing in the 
legislation to ensure that DOT is transparent and accountable 
when it comes to cancellations or delays that are not caused by 
airlines?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Well, I do think it is important for DOT to 
look at Mr. Santa's proposal on staffing, because, as I said, 
we are essentially overstaffed right now, and they are 
understaffed. And so, I think they need to take that seriously 
and address it.
    You may have seen yesterday there was some acknowledgment 
of the staffing issue in New York. The Department announced 
that they are going to provide slot relief, which we commend, 
highly commend the Department for doing that, slot relief in 
the New York area. But we have to be honest with ourselves. Why 
is that happening? It is happening, as they said in their 
order, because there are staffing issues. And so, I think that 
is probably the number-one thing the Department can do.
    Mr. Kean of New Jersey. Yes, I would say in the New Jersey 
area, coming from the Seventh Congressional District in New 
Jersey.
    Mr. Santa, do you have any update on when the Collaborative 
Resource Working Group, led by the NATCA and FAA, will have its 
final report that can be shared with the public on ATC staffing 
targets?
    Mr. Santa. Yes, thank you. The report was finalized through 
the collaborative process on January 31st of this year, and it 
has been submitted to Acting Administrator Billy Nolen. And as 
of right now, it has not been implemented. It is important to 
get it into this Controller Workforce Plan. I know that 
deadline is coming. And as Ms. Pinkerton said, we are working 
with 8-year-old stagnant numbers.
    Talking about Austin specifically, they have an 8-year-old 
staffing guideline number.
    Mr. Kean of New Jersey. So, again, what can we do to help 
with that?
    Mr. Santa. We need that CRWG number that was 
collaboratively derived to be introduced and utilized in the 
Controller Workforce Plan that the FAA owns and it presents to 
Congress so that it is transparent, so everybody knows the 
health of every one of our 313 facilities.
    Mr. Kean of New Jersey. Thank you.
    Mr. Santa. Thank you.
    Mr. Kean of New Jersey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Dr. Van Drew [presiding]. Next we have Mr. Menendez.
    Mr. Menendez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank all of 
the witnesses here today.
    Mr. Page, I want to just specifically thank you, not just 
for your work on behalf of veterans, but all folks who have 
mobility challenges. My father-in-law is one of those people. 
So, the challenges that we face in flying and accommodating 
people with mobility challenges directly impacts how often he 
gets to see his grandkids. So, this is something I care deeply 
about, and I appreciate your advocacy. And know that you have 
someone on this committee who is going to work hard at that 
issue.
    Pivoting to some of the challenges that we face in a dense 
community like the Eighth Congressional District, in 2017 the 
Bureau of Transportation Statistics conducted a study that 
tracked roads, airports, and other transportation to arrive at 
a noise metric for each area of the Nation. New Jersey, 
including several towns in my district, was found to be one of 
the loudest areas on the east coast. While Newark Airport has 
proposed changes in recent years to mitigate noise pollution, 
flight routes are a contributing factor to the noise pollution 
my constituents suffer from every day.
    Ms. Pinkerton, can you explain to the committee how 
airlines work with air traffic control to encourage flight 
routes that take into account noise pollution?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Absolutely. First of all, I do want to 
acknowledge the fact that noise is an issue that is important 
to us. We spend a lot of time working on it. And we have 
invested in quieter planes. Planes are much quieter today, 50 
percent more quiet than they were just 10 years ago.
    We are working very closely with the Federal Aviation 
Administration when new procedures are implemented. Usually a 
community group is stood up to look at those changes and talk 
through them. So, it is a collaborative effort. It is not an 
easy one, because there is noise associated with different 
traffic patterns. Sometimes a different traffic pattern will 
actually create less noise. But because it is new to a certain 
community, that raises concerns.
    So, we need to work through all of that, and I think we 
are.
    Mr. Menendez. Yes, as you continue to consider different 
factors, just know that these densely populated urban areas who 
already are subject to so much noise pollution, it is really a 
challenge. So, anything that we can do to alleviate that for 
those particular communities would be appreciated by me and 
folks from similar districts like Congressman Payne.
    I will stay with you, Ms. Pinkerton. For delayed flights 
that originate in Europe, are American air carriers currently 
providing compensation to those passengers, per EU flight 
compensation regulation 261?
    Ms. Pinkerton. No. Actually, I think the EU 261 has been a 
disaster. A lot of money has been spent, but it is not money 
that is spent to fix the problem.
    Mr. Menendez. But is the compensation going to passengers?
    Ms. Pinkerton. It is. It is not going to fix the problem, 
which is the--Single Sky is what they call their modernization 
effort in Europe. And that is what we need to do. We need to 
invest that money in technologies that are going to solve the 
problem at its root cause, so that we don't have irregular 
operations that disrupt passengers.
    Mr. Menendez. I would say a part of it is a recognition 
that flight cancellations, disruptions do impact passengers who 
are consumers within the industry. Is that correct?
    Ms. Pinkerton. I am sorry, sir. I didn't--I----
    Mr. Menendez [interrupting]. That flight cancellations and 
disruptions impact passengers who are consumers within the 
industry.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Absolutely. And when we cancel a flight 
because of something that is within our control, or even 
significantly delay that flight, we do compensate passengers.
    Mr. Menendez. Sure. And I would just say that, in thinking 
forward--you talk significantly about competition. I do think, 
if airlines could come up with a model that really protects 
consumers, understand the challenges they face, and continue to 
work on that so the consumer feels like the airlines are 
engaging in meeting that challenge, I think it would be 
extremely helpful.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Absolutely. We believe, whether it is the 
safety issue or the customer experience issue, our work with 
the disabled community, that more can be done, and we are 
committed to doing that.
    Mr. Menendez. Well, I appreciate it, and you know that you 
have partners here who want to create----
    Ms. Pinkerton [interposing]. Yes.
    Mr. Menendez [continuing]. A great system for all 
passengers across this country, no matter where they are 
originating or where they are landing. And hopefully, we can do 
that work together. So, thank you so much.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Absolutely.
    Mr. Menendez. I yield the remainder of my time.
    Dr. Van Drew. Mr. Bean.
    Mr. Bean of Florida. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and 
good morning, T&I Committee, our panelists, we are glad to have 
you here. I am going to talk about some of my biggest fears, 
our top three.
    The first is clowns. There is nothing that we can do about 
that today.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Bean of Florida. But the second, number two, is 
turbulence, turbulence on an airplane. And it can be very 
unnerving. I think we have all experienced that. There are 
stories of some very harsh turbulence that has caused injuries. 
Mr. Santa, is there anything we can do? Is there anything that 
you can direct a plane to fly in a different direction, or 
higher, or lower to avoid turbulence? Is that something we can 
do?
    Mr. Santa. Thank you for the question. It is. First of all, 
when we talk about turbulence, we take it very seriously, even 
though we are sitting in the seat controlling the traffic. But 
it is very taxing to the workforce, the reports and the 
interrogations of the pilots to find the smoothest rides, and 
then present those to subsequent air flights through there, it 
is important to us.
    We know the challenges, and we have seen some of the 
occurrences recently. And that really brings me right back to 
the question: the more work you have with combined sectors, and 
the more work you have without the extra eyes and the 
redundancies and the people sitting next to you to take your 
reports and to pass them on to the next aircraft, it hurts us 
when we don't have the bodies to do that.
    Mr. Bean of Florida. Very good. No, thank you very much.
    Number two on the list is getting trapped on a plane on a 
runway that is just parked there. I know it has gotten so much 
better. But Ms. Pinkerton, does that still happen? Is that 
still a thing, where planes can sit? What are the limitations 
of sitting on a plane that is not ready to go, but they don't 
want to bring them back to the terminal to let them disembark, 
does that still happen?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Congress did pass the rule to prevent long 
tarmac delays. So, if a plane is on the tarmac for an excess of 
3 hours for domestic, 4 hours for international, that is a 
violation, and----
    Mr. Bean of Florida [interrupting]. Is that too long, 
though? Even that, doesn't 3 hours sound like a----
    Ms. Pinkerton [interrupting]. It rarely happens. We----
    Mr. Bean of Florida [interrupting]. But when it does----
    Ms. Pinkerton [interrupting]. Remember, there are 45,000 
flights a day, 2\1/2\ million people. It rarely happens. But 
one time happening is too much; I completely agree with you.
    Interestingly, talking back to this control and not control 
issue: I fly every week, like you do. And I was on a flight 
last week. We got onto the tarmac, and in Florida they created 
a metering program for us taking off. It was a central Florida 
issue. And so, all of a sudden, we were on the runway because 
of a central Florida ground delay program, essentially. So, not 
our fault necessarily.
    But what do we want the pilot to do? Do we want him to stay 
there and take off, or do we want him to go back and--
interestingly, at about 2\1/2\ hours the way through, just to 
show you how complicated this is, the pilot says, ``I am going 
back.'' Do you know why we went back at 2\1/2\ hours, even 
though I would have rather stayed for another 30 minutes, 
because we waited 2\1/2\ hours? Because the pilots timed out.
    And those types of----
    Mr. Bean of Florida [interrupting]. So, hold on a second. 
We have got challenges. And I want to get----
    Ms. Pinkerton [interposing]. Yes.
    Mr. Bean of Florida [continuing]. My last question in 
before we go. And lots of things--you have given lots of full 
testimony to read, so, thank you.
    But I want to get to everybody, and we are entering the 
lightning round, where I have got 1 minute and 20 seconds left. 
So, under 10 seconds each, what is the one thing--and I am 
going last, so, you have already answered a lot of questions, 
but what is one thing that this committee needs to know about 
air travel that possibly we could change?
    Mr. Page, one thing. Bigger seats?
    Mr. Page. One thing? Yes, better access for people with 
disabilities.
    Mr. Bean of Florida. Ten-four. And thank you for your 
coming in and letting us know that.
    Rich Santa, what say you?
    Mr. Santa. It is safe, but we can do better with 
efficiencies in the passenger experiences, getting people to 
make their connections and to start their vacations on time. 
And we can do that with better staffing and better technology.
    Mr. Bean of Florida. Very good. The near-misses, we are 
going to--just with staffing we will correct those? Is it just 
me, or is it the press saying there are more near-misses than 
there have been before? Should we be worried about the near--I 
am worried about the near-misses. That is on my list, as well. 
But what say you to the near-misses?
    Mr. Santa. We are all worried and concerned about the 
recent events, and we evaluate those, and we put precautions, 
and we fix those challenges on a day-to-day basis. Huge, robust 
safety----
    Mr. Bean of Florida [interrupting]. Ten-four, thank you.
    Mr. Kevin, what do we need to know?
    Mr. Dolliole. More support to help airports meet their very 
critical infrastructure needs.
    Mr. Bean of Florida. Very good. And Ms. Sharon, last for 
you.
    Ms. Pinkerton. The system is safe. There are incidents. We 
are addressing those incidents. But aviation is safer than any 
other mode of transportation.
    But what we need to do is we need to solve our people 
problem, and we need to do better implementing technology.
    Mr. Bean of Florida. Thank you very much.
    I yield my time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Bean. And next we have Ms. 
Titus.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    If you are concerned about turbulence, you ought to be 
concerned about climate change, because everybody tells me that 
is going to be making it worse. I see heads nodding.
    I want to kind of talk about the disability issue, and I 
appreciate you being here, Mr. Page. And it was really 
gratifying for me to hear both the chairman and the ranking 
member and a number of members of this committee say we need to 
do better to serve our disabled passengers, and I certainly 
agree with that. I think of Judy Heumann, who just passed away, 
and her championship of this issue, and also Mr. Langevin, who 
had a couple of bills last session that I am honored to carry 
for him now at this time.
    We have introduced some amendments to the Air Carrier 
Access bill that was passed in the 1980s, thanks to the ranking 
member. And also we are going to be introducing the WHEELChairs 
on Airplanes Act with Mr. Stanton. And so, I welcome anybody to 
sign on who is so concerned about this issue.
    You know, we hear all kinds of things. If it is 
nonaccessible lavatories, it is equipment that gets harmed, it 
is difficult to get on and off, can't find a place to sit, 
going through security, all of these are things that we can 
address with this legislation.
    Since I introduced it--and again, I thank Mr. Langevin--I 
know what is in there. But Mr. Page, could you talk about how 
important it would be to pass that bill, and some of the 
specifics of it that you see making a big difference?
    Mr. Page. Sure. Thank you, Ms. Titus. Thank you for the 
question.
    Yes, I think that bill is pretty important, H.R. 1267. 
There are two main big issues which I have already talked 
about, which is better access for persons with disabilities to 
get into the plane, a path of travel, meaning it would require 
the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the 
Access Board, to write standards of access.
    That would allow a wheelchair to roll onto the plane, go to 
a designated seat. Then I could transfer. Then my chair would 
either be put underneath the plane in the cargo hold, or in 
some cases, in a closet, if it was there. It would also allow a 
power wheelchair to roll on and go to a designated spot and tie 
down, much like----
    Ms. Titus [interrupting]. We do that on buses. Why can't we 
do that on----
    Mr. Page [interrupting]. Pardon me?
    Ms. Titus. You do that on buses.
    Mr. Page. Yes. I was going to say much like all other modes 
of transportation currently.
    The other big aspect of that legislation you are talking 
about is the referral to the Department of Justice for more 
enforcement. Currently, the Air Carrier Access Act--the 
Department of Transportation levies fines for violations. And 
the last significant fine was in 2016, I think, for $2 million, 
but in the last reauthorization, we gave the authority to the 
Department to issue fines for bodily harm or wheelchair damage 
and tripled those fines. And they have done nothing since then.
    Ms. Titus. Yes, a lot of complaints are submitted, and 
nothing really gets done about that that we hear about.
    How about the problem with the batteries? I know Mr. 
Langevin was taken off of a flight, even though he had proof 
that his ion battery met the standards. Could you address that 
as an issue?
    Mr. Page. Well, yes. Unfortunately, yes, it is 
disheartening that the airlines didn't allow him on. I think 
FAA has said that those types of batteries can fly. I am not 
sure what the mix-up was that day, but what needs to happen is 
that, in those instances, airlines need to go by what the FAA 
says.
    Ms. Titus. Yes, so, the airline had a standard that was 
different from what the FAA said was acceptable. And he had the 
proof of that with him, and they still wouldn't let him fly.
    Mr. Page. I think the problem is a lot of times it is 
arbitrary when you get to the gate. It is what somebody on that 
flight knows, and what somebody on another flight knows or not.
    Ms. Titus. So, we just need to make that clear directive, 
so, it is a standard across all the flights and all the airline 
companies. Well, thank you.
    Anybody else want to comment on any of this?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Well, I just wanted to say that I do agree 
that there is a need for clarification of the standard. Right 
now, the way the standard is written--and it is actually PHMSA 
that says that you may take a battery up to X size. And so, as 
a result of that, carriers do have discretion, and I think that 
is where the confusion comes in.
    But I think PHMSA, DOT, and the FAA need to sit down and 
come up with a standard that people can understand. Some people 
will--for example, some carriers, if they are operating over 
the Pacific Ocean, they are going to be reluctant, and they are 
going to use their discretion to say, ``No, we are not going to 
take three of that size lithium battery on the plane at this 
time.'' That may be understandable, but it needs to be 
codified.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you, Ms. Titus. I will yield such time 
to myself.
    First of all, I want to thank Mr. Page. I want to thank him 
for his service in the past, and I want to thank him for his 
service now.
    We appreciate you; I want you to know that.
    Secondly, I think, with anything, there has to be a little 
humor. So, just--this is--I fly out of Philadelphia when I do 
very often--once in a while, Atlantic City, believe it or not, 
but--and I was really pleasantly surprised.
    So, I was flying from Phoenix to Philadelphia. Philadelphia 
looks better, it looks nicer. It was shinier, cleaner, some new 
stores, everything was great. The best part of it was--and this 
is really true, it never, ever happened to me before, but some 
of you fly, I guess, probably more than I do, I fly a few times 
a year--he had such good tailwinds, the pilot did, that we got 
there 1 hour and 5 minutes early. I mean, even he thought that 
was quite exceptional. So, that was wonderful.
    So, I am walking around with my chief of staff saying, boy, 
everything--things really--and they are, some things really are 
getting better. But as you would have it--and it is a 
Philadelphia tradition--baggage retrieval. I went to get the 
baggage. The whole thing broke down. So, the hour and 5 minutes 
we made up, we used up waiting for the baggage. And it just 
kind of struck me as funny. As much as you move forward, 
sometimes every couple steps forward, you might take a step 
backward. But whatever use that has, I don't know. To me, 
believe it or not, I was in a good mood that day. So, it was 
kind of humorous, because we did get our baggage. So, that was 
good.
    As you all know, we are in a pivotal time in aviation. 
Technologies are changing in the airspace, and our legacy 
systems are really in dire need of modernization, a great deal 
of them, and we all agree on that. It is important that 
Congress get this FAA reauthorization to ensure that the United 
States of America leads the world in aviation in the 21st 
century. And we've got to get it right.
    I direct my question to Mr. Rich Santa. They were leaving 
you alone for a while, so, I figured I would pick on you, 
president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. 
And the FAA has claimed that the NextGen program is operating. 
It has expressed a desire to evolve NextGen into something more 
appropriate for the challenges of today. And I feel that, as 
well. I think that is a good point.
    There is also a strong desire among stakeholders to improve 
the FAA's integration of advanced aviation systems, as well as 
improve this agency's modernization of legacy infrastructure.
    What role--and this is the question for you--what role 
should the NextGen organization play in addressing the 
challenges of the new entrant integration and modernization of 
infrastructure?
    Mr. Santa. Thank you for the question. It all acts 
together, right? The funding for FAA reauth needs to be stable 
and predictable so that we continue the programs that make 
sense, and we can replace the programs that are outdated.
    Many, many of our radar systems, our separation systems, 
everything that we work is past its useful life, and we are on 
a fix-on-fail, due to the lack of funding. When we talk about 
NOTAMs, when we talk about the radar issues, when we talk about 
STARs or ERAM, they are all either needing replacement or 
already slated for replacement. But everything has been paused. 
Everything has been pushed to the right, due to the lack of 
stable and predictable funding.
    We have been stagnant since 2009 with our F&E. FAA's report 
says that we need about $6 billion to do that, and we are still 
getting $3 billion to do what we need. So, FAA reauth needs to 
address that so that we can modernize the system, we can handle 
the new entrants, we can reduce delays.
    Ms. Pinkerton talks about the 10 percent that is allocated 
to the NAS. We can do better than that if we are adequately 
funded and adequately staffed.
    Dr. Van Drew. And I think that is a good point. And I think 
the modernization is very much needed. I mean, it is hard to 
really accomplish the hopes and the dreams that we have, quite 
frankly, if you are using old tools. So, I appreciate that, and 
I know that is going to be a subject of discussion I have put 
forward. I would hope that maybe, if you get a chance, you 
would take a look at it, an FAA plan of my own, and I would 
appreciate that. We spent literally years working on this, and 
I would be interested to see what you thought of it.
    With that, I am going to ask Ms. Scholten to speak.
    Ms. Scholten. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and thank 
you to all of our witnesses for coming before the committee and 
helping us understand the state of the passenger experience in 
air travel today--perhaps not as exciting as the TikTok 
hearings that are happening out in the hall at present, but 
certainly of import to Americans across the country.
    I represent Michigan's Third Congressional District, which 
has a long history of participation on this committee. 
Congressman Vern Ehlers was a senior member for almost 20 
years. My district stretches from the city of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan's second biggest city, home to Gerald R. Ford 
International Airport, to the lake shore.
    Grand Rapids is one of the fastest growing airports in the 
country. It reached pre-pandemic levels of air travel almost 97 
percent before almost any other airport in the country. 
Undergoing currently a major terminal overhaul, this is an 
effort to relieve some of the constraints that they have been 
experiencing, reaching these levels so quickly.
    This question is for Mr. Dolliole.
    Mr. Dolliole, much is made of the passenger experience, as 
we have been talking about today. But as you know, in your 
testimony, passengers also spend hours at the airport itself 
prior to boarding. The terminal experience can vary widely from 
airport to airport. As a mom who has to travel with children, 
and has traveled with very young children, I can personally 
attest to some of the difficulties that can be experienced.
    Can you speak to the importance of a modern and efficient 
airport enhancing that passenger experience and, in particular, 
developing a smooth curbside drop-off and pick-up experience?
    Mr. Dolliole. Let me say first you have a very fine 
airport.
    Ms. Scholten. Thank you.
    Mr. Dolliole. And they are being very proactive in going 
through the program they are now to make improvements and get 
ahead of the curve, if you will.
    Ms. Scholten. That is right.
    Mr. Dolliole. That is an issue facing airports around the 
country, as I spoke to earlier. Many of our facilities are 
older and in need of improvements, in need of growing capacity 
to meet growing demand in the facilities. And as you go through 
making improvements in airport facilities, you also plan in, 
build in improvements to services offered to the traveling 
public because the traveling public does spend a good bit of 
time in your airport.
    So, there are many different ways to accomplish that 
through your concessions program, through services such as the 
parking operation I described a little earlier today, to 
parking reservation systems, to security reservation systems, 
to reserve a spot to go through the checkpoint at certain 
times, and to ensuring, as airports are able to construct or 
add capacity, improve their facilities.
    Because airports are older, and most were developed before 
TNCs came on the scene, the congestion at curbside in airports 
has worsened over time. But as we are able to go in and make 
improvements, we can make those type corrections too, to ensure 
that truly from curb to aircraft you are having a good 
experience.
    So, there are many different ways. It really takes the 
funding needed, but the funding is pulled from sources that 
really don't impact the budget, overall.
    Ms. Scholten. Thank you. And specifically thinking about 
family travel or group travel--family travel with young 
children--can you talk a little bit more about anything 
specifically that is being done to accommodate those parents 
traveling through airports across the country?
    Mr. Dolliole. Well, a couple of things I mentioned earlier 
as I was going through accommodations made in the airport for 
disabled travelers also is a benefit for families: the unisex 
or family restroom facilities; if you are traveling with a pet, 
we have a pet relief facility beyond the checkpoint, so, it is 
on the secure side of the facility; the mix in your concessions 
program; you have to give consideration to young travelers, as 
well; you will see activity centers in some airports around the 
country; and airlines are making accommodations to ensure 
families are seated together as they board aircraft, and so 
forth.
    So, I think all of the stakeholders work to help make the 
experience for family travel better, as well.
    Ms. Scholten. Thank you so much. We are very proud of our 
airport and the expansion that we are doing there.
    So, I yield back the rest of my time. Thank you.
    Mr. Dolliole. I was a consultant for 10 years in the 
industry. They were a client at one time. They were one of my 
favorite clients.
    Ms. Scholten. Oh, fantastic. You will have to come visit 
us. Thank you.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you, thank you. I noticed you guys 
didn't say anything about Philadelphia.
    [Laughter.]
    Dr. Van Drew. I recognize Mr. Collins for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    I am new here. I am in the trucking business. I have been 
in the trucking business for 30 years, so, I am in the same 
business you are in. It is just that you all go a little bit 
faster than we do. I would like to just ask questions and just 
pop some answers real quick.
    Ms. Pinkerton, sometimes my dispatchers and people take my 
freight, will just take freight, take freight, take freight, 
even though I have got trucks parked on the side with no 
drivers. Is that a case? Are you all allowing people just to 
book flights and add flights with planes that are just sitting 
with no pilots?
    Ms. Pinkerton. I am sorry. Could you repeat the question 
for me? I want to make sure I understand.
    Mr. Collins. Are people booking flights that you know you 
don't have capacity to handle?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Oh, no. In fact, we are flying 10 percent 
less than we flew before. We are overstaffed, as I said. We 
hired 100,000 people. We have got more people on board now than 
we have ever had before. We have the capacity. The system 
doesn't have the capacity, we don't have enough air traffic 
controllers, and we don't have the right technology.
    Mr. Collins. And you don't have enough pilots?
    Ms. Pinkerton. And we don't have enough pilots for the 
small community service, correct.
    Mr. Collins. And that was what Congressman Cohen was 
speaking about, what we are working on with the 529 savings 
plan.
    So, a lot of my questions were answered in a way. But Mr. 
Santa, I want to kind of go straight over to the FAA, because I 
think it is a back office problem, myself. What was the average 
age of an air traffic controller before the pandemic?
    Mr. Santa. First of all, I want to say Philadelphia is one 
of my favorite airports.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Santa. I don't know that I know the average age. I can 
certainly get that to you.
    Mr. Collins. OK. And they shut down the training schools 
during the pandemic.
    Mr. Santa. That is correct.
    Mr. Collins. And nobody aged during that time.
    Mr. Santa. That is incorrect.
    Mr. Collins. Is there an age limit on hiring at the FAA?
    Mr. Santa. There is. It is generally 31 years old to be 
hired. And then we have to retire at 56, due to the 
efficiencies of our profession.
    Mr. Collins. Is that something that needs to be looked at?
    Mr. Santa. No, it is very accurate. It is very sincere. We 
are highly professional individuals working a very difficult 
and stressful job.
    Mr. Collins. All right. Technology improvement. I heard Ms. 
Pinkerton say if we got rid of the little cards, it may save 15 
seconds, just say. So, you do 45,000 flights a day. That is 112 
hours in 1 day that you save. It adds up quick.
    What else do we need to look at, technology-wise?
    Mr. Santa. Well, the first thing we need to look at is our 
legacy systems for replacement, upgrade, and modernization. And 
then we need to look at tools that are going to help us be more 
efficient. That always takes funding and staffing to 
accomplish. So, that is sort of the second stage.
    The first stage--because when you partially fund a program, 
by the time it is implemented, it is either outdated or it is 
no longer useful to the community. So, we need to solve the 
staffing and funding issue first, and we will appropriately be 
able to handle the increase of air traffic and the new 
entrants.
    Mr. Collins. All right. I think that leads into my next 
question: How many people at the FAA are still working from 
home?
    Mr. Santa. I represent mostly air traffic controllers and 
safety professionals. And I would say a very small fraction of 
those still work from home. And it is because that is where 
they are most utilized.
    Mr. Collins. I am not speaking about the air traffic 
controllers. I am speaking about the FAA, so----
    Mr. Santa [interrupting]. Once again, I can get that answer 
for you. The people that NATCA--the members at NATCA 
represent----
    Mr. Collins [interrupting]. It is one-third.
    Mr. Santa. What is that?
    Mr. Collins. It is one-third.
    I don't know how to pronounce your name, I am----
    Mr. Dolliole. Dolliole.
    Mr. Collins. Dolliole? Passenger facility charges. Are they 
divided between the two airports, departure and arrival? How 
does that work, the $4.50?
    Mr. Dolliole. It is the originating airport.
    Mr. Collins. It is always the originating? OK. So, it is 
not divided out among all airports, or any type of--OK. All 
right.
    And then lastly, Ms. Pinkerton, do the airlines oppose 
raising that fee?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Yes. And the reason is whether you call it a 
tax or a fee doesn't matter. You are raising the cost of flying 
for the public.
    And what I will say is look around. New Orleans just built 
a big, beautiful terminal. Look at New York: LaGuardia, JFK. 
Newark is now coming on board. Ten years ago, the airports 
might have had a reason and a need, but there is a difference 
between wants and needs.
    Mr. Collins. All right.
    Ms. Pinkerton. And a PFC increase is not needed.
    Mr. Collins. All right. One last question. I can't go 
without asking this.
    Mr. Santa, changing NOTAM from Notice to Airmen to Notice 
to Air Missions, did it improve technology or safety?
    Mr. Santa. No.
    Mr. Collins. Thank you.
    I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you. I recognize Mr. Carbajal for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all 
the witnesses for being here today.
    Mr. Dolliole, I represent the central coast of California. 
Many people call it paradise, as I do, which is home to Santa 
Barbara, Santa Maria, and San Luis Obispo Airports, which are 
the finest and my favorite airports that I have. And I know San 
Luis Obispo Airport is a member of your organization.
    One of your recommendations to this committee is that we 
increase the authorized levels of the Airport Improvement 
Program to $4 billion annually.
    Additionally, I understand that you are recommending 
improvements to this program. Can you elaborate on how your 
recommendations would be beneficial to airports like the ones 
in my district, and will this improve passenger experiences at 
the airport?
    Mr. Dolliole. It will certainly improve passenger 
experiences at----
    Mr. Carbajal [interrupting]. Are they some of your favorite 
airports? Let's start with----
    Mr. Dolliole [interrupting]. Some of--yes, some of my 
favorite airports. But it will definitely improve the passenger 
experience at airports around the country.
    As I noted earlier, what we are looking for in the bump in 
AIP funding is to assist where inflation is eating into the 
value we get out of these programs to support critical 
infrastructure projects at airports. So, bumping the fee would 
help offset that.
    Putting flexibility into the AIP program to allow airports 
to use more landside with the AIP program would assist in 
developing terminals, developing landside facilities, and 
again, go to improving the passenger experience.
    The PFC program was another recommendation we made to move 
it up. And the PFC program at $4.50 today is a far cry less 
than all the ancillary fees that airlines charge their 
passengers. And if we are concerned with increasing the cost to 
customers, the ancillary fees do a lot more to increasing the 
cost to customers than a PFC fee does.
    The PFC program was stood up in 1990 as a way to promote 
competition and to afford airports the ability to have a 
funding source not controlled by the air carriers to give them 
the ability to build infrastructure, to allow for more 
competition to come in. That is the primary purpose of the PFC. 
It was bumped 10 years later to $4.50, and today we are sitting 
on a PFC fee that, due to inflation, gets you a lot less than 
it did back when it came into play.
    So, I would give you that.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you.
    Ms. Pinkerton, I know, reading your priorities, that we 
share similar goals of achieving a net-zero carbon emissions by 
2050. Can you explain the importance of a sustainable aviation 
fuel, SAF, to achieving that goal?
    Ms. Pinkerton. I will. But first I just have to say----
    Mr. Carbajal [interrupting]. No, this is my time.
    Ms. Pinkerton. All right. sustainable aviation fuel. 
Absolutely. You have seen our commitments. We are putting our 
money where our mouth is. We are investing in technologies. We 
are very appreciative that Congress passed the blender's tax 
credit. I think that is going to help us meet our mutual goals, 
because the Federal Government also has a goal of producing 3 
billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.
    So, we are committed, and we hope that the committee 
continues on with the grant program that you have created for 
more production facilities.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Ms. Pinkerton, just a followup 
question. Look, what can we do to ensure airline and Government 
reach these ambitious goals, particularly getting 3 billion 
gallons of SAF?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Well, I think that SAF is the most important 
near-term thing that we can do. So, again, I think the BTC was 
a good step in the right direction. We are going to need to 
extend that so that there is certainty for investors, and we 
are going to need to continue those grant programs into 
production facilities. We don't have very many going right now, 
and we have got a long way to go to meet our 3 billion gallon 
goal. And so, we appreciate the partnership with Congress.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Ms. Pinkerton. I will let you and 
Mr. Dolliole fight out PFC charges versus ancillary fees by the 
airlines. So, that could be at another forum.
    With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Carbajal.
    Mr. DeSaulnier we will recognize for 5 minutes.
    Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank 
you all for being here.
    I think the most important thing for the system, we can all 
agree, is customer confidence in the system. And that goes to 
an area of interest I have been involved with since the near-
miss at San Francisco and the Air Canada when we came within 59 
feet of having the largest air disaster in the history of this 
country. So, with full acknowledgment that we have had a 
wonderful historical record, but these near-misses and the 
NOTAMs are, to me, warning signs that we should be very, very 
alert to not overreact, but the convergence, it seems to me in 
my involvement in this, is between the financial model and your 
members.
    It has been a long time since Carl Icahn, but I was just 
reading about hedge funds going out of the aviation field more 
to the production of the products. But the financial pressure 
for your members were--in a financial model where investors can 
go to a lot of places. So, you have a lot of legitimate 
pressures is what I am saying. But then all of this thing, and 
the partnership we have had between the FAA regulators and the 
private sector has worked for years. But there is different 
pressure now, particularly coming out of COVID.
    So, starting, Mr. Santa, when I have talked to your members 
with you, and particularly at SFO, having been in the tower 
there multiple times now, one of the challenges is--and similar 
for your staff, although you pay better on a national level--is 
where your members live. So, what I hear from your employees 
and from your members is it is very expensive to live in New 
York, or Boston, or DC, Chicago, Dallas, or San Francisco. So, 
is the differential enough to attract and retain?
    And combined with the fact that we have to do a lot more 
training for your members because of technology, and because of 
the pressure to make it work right, and the whole issue of 
human factors, could----
    Mr. Santa [interrupting]. Yes, some of our facilities are 
very difficult to staff. We do have subsidies that help support 
that.
    Mr. DeSaulnier. But are they sufficient? Because the 
feedback I get is they are not.
    Mr. Santa. In many cases they are not for some of our very 
difficult-to-staff facilities. But that is why it is so 
important to find enough candidates that are from the location, 
and you hire locally, or you get--you have to overstaff to get 
the homers and the people that want to stay there for life.
    We do have a very solid transfer program. So, if you go and 
you certify in Oakland Center, there is an opportunity to leave 
after a period of time. But there are facilities that are 
understaffed precisely from what you say. They are very 
difficult to live there due to the cost of living.
    Mr. DeSaulnier. So, speaking to the other question, the 
larger question about this partnership that we have that has 
been remarkable for years in this country between your members 
of the private sector and we, as Government regulators, and all 
of the other divergent entities, this ability to invest in 
technology to make it more efficient, but particularly to 
invest in human factors and to let your investors know they are 
going to get a reasonable rate of return, while we still 
maintain that confidence in the system.
    So, Mr. Stauber and I have passed a bill just to create 
some pressure on FAA--maybe that is not the right word--to look 
at NOTAMs and continue to look at NOTAMs more successfully. We 
know page 8 of a 50-page document for the Air Canada pilots was 
a stupid thing to say, ``By the way, the runway is closed for 
construction, don't land on the taxiway,'' which they almost 
did, three full--so, the money--so, that bill.
    Then we, in the Safe Landings Act--although I got a lot of 
that in the last reauthorization, we are going to be very 
active in getting more of it, and continuous training. You have 
got turnover in your pilots and a lot of your employees. How do 
you feel--given the financial pressures you are under, how do 
you feel that we, overseeing FAA and you, stay on top of that?
    So, human factors, we are training new people, people who 
don't have the military aviation experience in the cockpit. How 
do we make sure we are on top of that, along with the new 
technology?
    So, three stools are the financial model, technology, and 
how we train people consistently, and attract and retain them.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Well, as I said in my opening statement, we 
have identified people and training as our top priority, and I 
think carriers have done a good job.
    Obviously, a record amount of people, 100,000 people in 2 
years, were the biggest we have ever been. But we did that 
acknowledging that these folks were going to have less 
experience, so, we put in special training programs, special 
proficiency requirements, because we absolutely acknowledge the 
human factors are critical, and safety is our top priority. We 
won't be in existence if we are not running a safe industry. 
And that is our top priority, period, full stop.
    And the technology, as I mentioned, the FAA has a lot of 
technologies, as well. In particular, their surveillance 
technology on runways is something that they stopped 
implementing. And we have just got to get that back out there.
    And of course, the staffing for controllers is--I 
completely support NATCA's position here and want to see this 
shortage come to an end.
    Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you. I will recognize Mr. Molinaro for 
5 minutes.
    Mr. Molinaro. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Yes, way over here. Thank you for your testimony today. So, 
I like the phrase that aviation remains the most regulated 
deregulated industry in America. And I think it is important to 
acknowledge the deregulation from the 1970s has resulted, 
obviously, in great advancements in the industry, and it has 
seen drastic reduction in costs, which is useful.
    Obviously, when we talk about passenger experience--and I 
know this was touched on briefly--the one thing most people 
complain and know firsthand about are, obviously, length of 
delays, number of delays, and how that plays into the consumer 
experience.
    So, Ms. Pinkerton, you mentioned already in testimony to 
the Senate Commerce Committee--and then I believe it has 
already come up to some degree--that there needs to be 
additional accountability by the DOT when it comes to operation 
issues on their end as it relates to delays. Could you just 
expand on that, briefly?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Sure. I think, specific to cancellations and 
delays, is the staffing shortage issue. I mean, DOT yesterday 
issued an order which we completely applaud and support, but 
they acknowledged that the reason they are having to limit 
flights in New York is because of a staffing issue.
    So, I think we need to be transparent about staffing 
shortages. We had issues in Jacksonville. We have got issues in 
Vegas. Rich can do a better job of telling you where all of the 
issues are, but we need the Department to be transparent about 
that, and transparent about what the fix is, this collaborative 
working program that has been put together by NATCA, MITRE, and 
the FAA.
    Mr. Molinaro. Can we drill down just a little bit more on 
the question of transparency? Not just the lack of staffing, 
but the truth is, overall, consumers, passengers would be 
better off knowing truly at every stage of a delay, of a 
problem with their own experience, knowing who is responsible 
for fixing--not necessarily who we are going to blame, but 
where in the system is this particular challenge.
    Can you just expand a little bit? And I am happy to let 
someone else jump in, although I do have one more question I 
want to get an answer to on the question of--let's talk about 
enhancing that transparency.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Yes. I mean, the Department does publish 
certain statistics about causes of delays and cancellations. 
But it is--I will be frank, it is----
    Mr. Molinaro. Please.
    Ms. Pinkerton. It is complicated. And we can all do a 
better job communicating about what the causes are, and be more 
transparent about that.
    Mr. Molinaro. Go ahead, sir.
    Mr. Santa. It just--on the transparency issue, right now 
the current model of reporting staffing, it is budget-driven, 
it puts us at 103 percent staff. That is just, frankly, not 
accurate. We are much closer to 75 to 80 percent staff 
throughout our facilities. And to know that as an industry, and 
to know that as Congress, and to know that as a user, it is 
valuable, it is a valuable benchmark.
    Mr. Molinaro. I appreciate that. And I think that is 
critically important. And we have to be at least accurate with 
the information that we are providing.
    Can I also--I want to talk a little bit about--as it 
relates to workforce. And one of the solutions that was created 
in the last FAA reauthorization is the Workforce Development 
Grants. Again, we know them as section 625 grants. It is a 
priority for me. I spent a lot of time as a county official 
over the last 12 years focused on building that pipeline using, 
in fact, these very dollars to build that pipeline for 
mechanics, pilots, in partnership with a local community 
college.
    Talk briefly about the benefit of the program and how sound 
that investment is. And I would also dare say what the right 
level of funding is for an issue of that nature.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Well, first of all, thank you for your 
leadership. It was the first item that I mentioned in terms of 
our recommendations----
    Mr. Molinaro [interposing]. Right.
    Ms. Pinkerton [continuing]. For the FAA bill. So, we are 
very appreciative.
    I am sure you are aware a $10 million program had a $120 
million demand on it. So, it is a wildly popular program. It is 
oversubscribed. And I think it is going to be critical to the 
success of our industry in meeting all of these goals: safety, 
efficiency, and whether or not we can provide service, the kind 
of service that we want to provide to a variety of communities.
    Mr. Molinaro. Fair enough. I appreciate that.
    Mr. Chairman, I am not going to ask the question. I am just 
going to say, as it relates to accessibility issues, there is a 
good platform that I hope we continue to focus on: the Air 
Carrier Access Act Advisory Committee and the Airline 
Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights. Talk about that 
offline. Thank you very much.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Molinaro. I will now recognize 
Mr. Burchett--I am sorry, Mr. Stanton--for 5 minutes. I am 
ahead of myself, sorry.
    Mr. Stanton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank 
you all for all the witnesses for being here. Today is a very 
important hearing.
    As someone who flies twice a week to get to and from 
Washington from my home in Phoenix, I can say unequivocally 
investments in our airports are key to improving the passenger 
experience from the moment they arrive at the airport until 
they reach their final destination.
    Last year, 44 million people flew through Sky Harbor 
Airport in Arizona. To meet current and future air travel 
demands, Sky Harbor has aggressively invested in new concourses 
and gates and more efficient taxiways. It has even added a 
people mover system called the Sky Train to provide a seamless 
connection from the airport to ground transportation and the 
region's light rail system. These investments improve the 
experience for passengers, and they also create good-paying 
jobs.
    But these investments are not inexpensive, and it takes 
both local and Federal resources to make them a reality. The 
Airport Improvement Program and the influx of Federal resources 
provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have helped 
jumpstart many important projects at our airports, including a 
new taxiway at Sky Harbor to improve efficiency.
    But let's be honest. We all know the needs still far 
outpace available resources. At Sky Harbor, revenue from the 
passenger facility charge has been an essential tool to help 
the airport modernize itself. However, the purchasing power of 
the PFC has eroded more than 40 percent since it was last 
adjusted more than two decades ago.
    Mr. Dolliole, in your testimony, you note the current 
airport survey shows that over the next 5 years, our airports 
have $151 billion in infrastructure needs, but that current 
infrastructure dollars, even when factoring in the investments 
under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, are woefully 
insufficient to meet those needs.
    Can you talk about what changes could be made to the PFC to 
help meet the growing infrastructure needs at our Nation's 
airports?
    Mr. Dolliole. Well, the PFC program I spoke earlier to, 
part of the beauty of PFCs is the flexibility in using them. 
So, you can do more with PFCs than, say, you could do with AIP 
dollars, which are more geared to airfield improvements. So, 
first thing.
    The second is, as you collect PFCs, you can use them in one 
of two ways. You can use them on a PAYGO basis, as pay as you 
collect PFCs, or you can leverage PFCs through bond issuances, 
and pay the debt service for PFCs. It would get a lot more out 
of the PFC dollars that come in. And airports and airport 
leaders do that, we are maximizing what we can get out of the 
program. But the truth of the matter is, its value has eroded, 
as you point out.
    What it would take is either moving the cap to the $7.58 
range, and maybe index it for inflation so that it adjusts 
going forward, or eliminate the cap on PFCs. And it gives 
airports a--which is a very valuable tool, that tool that now 
is producing what it was intended to produce when the program 
was stood up. The increase would help mitigate the impacts of 
inflation over time. And if it is indexed to inflation, it 
would keep the fee current to current costs.
    Mr. Stanton. I appreciate that very much.
    Mr. Page, thank you for your steadfast advocacy to improve 
airline travel for those with disabilities. While progress has 
been made since the passage of the American Disabilities Act 
and the Air Carrier Access Act, we still have a long way to go 
to eliminate barriers and make air travel more equitable for 
those with disabilities.
    One of the PVA's priorities for the next FAA 
reauthorization bill is to reauthorize the Air Carrier Access 
Act Advisory Committee. In your opinion, what specific issues 
should the ACAA Advisory Committee address if, and hopefully 
when, reauthorized?
    Mr. Page. Well, thank you for the question, sir. Well, one 
of the big issues I think that we have got left hanging out 
there--I am not sure if the committee can address it or not--
but is more physical access on an airplane for persons with 
disabilities and better seating accommodations that meet their 
needs.
    And then also, better stowage in the belly of the airplane, 
and then have those wheelchairs and assistive devices returned 
in the manner that they are given to the airlines.
    Mr. Stanton. Thank you very much for that answer. And my 
time is up, so, I yield back.
    Thank you, Chairman.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you. Next I recognize Ms. Norton for 5 
minutes.
    Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Page, first I want to thank you for being here today. 
There are approximately 3.3 million wheelchair users in the 
United States, over half of whom are over the age of 65. Could 
you speak more indepth about ways airplanes could be designed 
to accommodate wheelchair users during the boarding process and 
in flight for access to bathrooms?
    Mr. Page. Thank you for the question. When it comes to 
getting on and off an airplane for a person with a disability, 
I think more training might be needed.
    Ms. Norton. More what?
    Mr. Page. More training might be needed. Specifically, if 
you look at myself, I am a person with permanent disability. I 
have been in a wheelchair over 40 years. I have spinal cord 
injury. A lot of the attendants, the push attendants right now, 
are used to pushing a person to the edge, and then that person 
getting up and walking in on their own, maybe. When it comes to 
persons with physical disabilities, more training in reference 
to getting on, because we have to be physically lifted into the 
seats.
    Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Page. You mentioned in your 
testimony that the PVA believes that passengers who utilize 
assistive devices should not be required to pay higher ticket 
prices for seats or alternative flights in order to accommodate 
their assistive devices. What would be a good mechanism to 
implement this option during payment for passengers with 
disabilities?
    Mr. Page. I think that is in reference to class of 
services. The airlines, back in the day, when I first started 
flying, you had first class and then you had coach. And I think 
right now the question is what seating area best accommodates 
that person, which, a lot of times when I book online my seat, 
I will see that I am in row 9, and then I go to the gate agent, 
and when I get there, mysteriously, I am in row 32 now.
    Ms. Norton. And you would rather be in what row?
    Mr. Page. Where I originally booked online at row 9 or 10, 
or closer to the front. Because the problem is, the further you 
go back, especially on the aisle chair, there are more 
possibilities of becoming injured.
    Ms. Norton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield 
back.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you. I will recognize Mr. Burchett for 
5 minutes.
    Mr. Burchett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As always, you are 
dapperly dressed. If I had your wardrobe, I would burn mine.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you. You used up 3 seconds of your time 
saying that. I will let you go over 3 seconds.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Burchett. That is right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Ms. Pinkerton--actually, I am not here to knock you guys. I 
know some people think you are the devil, and maybe some people 
think you are not. I am kind of in between on you all. I get a 
little ticked off when my flights get delayed, like everybody 
else does. And I have some little smart aleck in skinny jeans 
get up and try to tell me what is going on, and then I see what 
was really going on, and I get a little ticked off, but that 
could be addressed elsewhere. That is management more on the 
lower levels.
    But I feel like the airlines aren't delivering sometimes on 
their most basic promise, and that is to get our passengers and 
their luggage from one place to the other. What steps are you 
all taking to address delays and cancellations within your 
control?
    Specifically--I have seen this happen many times--you are 
about to take off, and then they--oh, we got an issue, and the 
issue is, I believe, that the pilots have flown too many hours, 
and yet they are allowed to be out. And it seems to me some 
kind of a regulatory situation. And the clients, which are the 
people flying, are kind of getting abused in this situation. 
And then they bring in other pilots, and then you are delayed 
again, and it just seems something else is afoot.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Yes, I did experience myself that issue a 
couple of weeks ago, where the pilots timed out. But I would 
say our number-one priority is getting you to your destination 
safely and efficiently and on time, with your luggage. And that 
particular rule was adopted in law by Congress to ensure that 
pilots were not working excessive hours, and so, we comply with 
that. And I do realize that it does inconvenience passengers. I 
think it is for the safety of the system.
    Mr. Burchett. OK. Yesterday, Airlines for America published 
an opinion piece titled, ``Policymakers Should Avoid Temptation 
of Subjecting Airlines to More Regulations.'' Has the FAA 
completed the rulemaking on provisions required by the 2018 FAA 
reauthorization?
    Ms. Pinkerton. I think there are many provisions that 
required rules that have not yet been completed.
    Mr. Burchett. Have the airlines fully implemented 
requirements under the 2018 FAA reauthorization?
    Ms. Pinkerton. For those rules that have been issued, yes.
    Mr. Burchett. OK. Just not for the ones--OK. Yes, I guess 
if you didn't have the ones that weren't issued, it would be a 
case of mind-reading on your all's part, maybe.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Right.
    Mr. Burchett. What existing regulations should be updated 
to improve the passenger experience?
    Ms. Pinkerton. What existing regulations do I believe 
improve?
    Mr. Burchett. Yes, ma'am.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Well, again, I think safety is really the 
FAA's mission. And safety and efficiency of the system, 
actually, that is codified, safety and efficiency of the 
system, and I think the passengers' experience, which, the most 
irritating things are the delays and cancellations. That is 
what we get the most complaints about.
    And there are several technologies that we have talked 
about today that would make the system more efficient. The 
NOTAM--we are all familiar with that--stopped the entire air 
traffic control system for 1\1/2\ hours. It hasn't happened 
since 9/11.
    So, there is a long list of modernization programs that 
would make the journey more efficient.
    Mr. Burchett. We are seeing a lot of unruly passengers. And 
of course, everybody is looking for YouTube spots, I guess. And 
it happens that they attack these flight attendants and staffs. 
And really, frankly, I think they are dirt bags.
    Is there something in place where these folks will be 
banned for life from flying?
    Ms. Pinkerton. Oh, yes----
    Mr. Burchett [interrupting]. Because they should be, 
because they risk the safety of everybody, and----
    Ms. Pinkerton [interposing]. Right.
    Mr. Burchett [continuing]. And flying is not a right. In 
Tennessee, they always say driving is not a right, it is a 
privilege. Well, flying definitely is a privilege.
    Ms. Pinkerton. Correct. And we worked very closely with TSA 
and the FAA during the pandemic and even today on a zero 
tolerance policy for that kind of behavior. And so, the FAA 
brings charges against these unruly passengers. And in 
addition, carriers take their own measures in terms of banning 
them from flying that airline again.
    Mr. Burchett. On the other side of that--well, let's see. I 
am out, I am out of time. I won't ask any more questions. Thank 
you all so much.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you. I recognize Ms. Hoyle for 5 
minutes.
    Ms. Hoyle of Oregon. Thank you very much. I live in the 
Pacific Northwest, so, I live 3,000 miles away. There are no 
direct flights from Eugene, Oregon, so, I spend a fair amount 
of time in airports, on planes, much like my predecessor, Mr. 
DeFazio. So, thank you very much for showing up here.
    And I also am very grateful for all the workers in the 
airports on airlines, air traffic controllers that work in 
really high-stress jobs every day with limited resources, and 
with customers that can be really cranky or aggressive. So, 
thank you for your work.
    My question is for Rich Santa, National Air Traffic 
Controller Association president.
    You spoke earlier in your initial testimony about staffing 
challenges and how they contribute to airline inefficiencies. 
And when we ask the FAA about staffing, they say there is 
enough staffing, and that the numbers show that everything is 
fine. But I think you alluded to this: one, we have staffing 
decisions being made by accountants, as opposed to those who 
really know about safety and what we need; and also that 
trainees are counted in the same way that fully trained air 
traffic controllers are, in terms of that head count.
    So, what I would say is, given that the pipeline for new 
trainees was broken temporarily during COVID, and we have 1,200 
fewer fully certified air traffic controllers today than there 
were 10 years ago, can you expand on what the issue is, how we 
need to solve it, and what I see as a giant red flag for safety 
considerations? What do you think we need to do about it?
    Mr. Santa. Thank you so much for the question. And you 
really identified many of the issues. A budget-driven model 
reduces our controllers on a yearly basis, because there are no 
other alternatives other than a safe operation. When you 
provide a safe operation, budget says there you go, that is 
what you have.
    But when we talk about efficiencies, that is the contrast. 
You have to close sectors. You don't have redundancies, you 
don't have resiliency in the system. And certainly, when we 
talk about some of the delays Ms. Pinkerton talked about, there 
is technology out there that could help us with weather delays. 
We could use new weather on the radar scopes to funnel 
airplanes to where there is not impactful weather or severe 
weather. But that is the second tier of it.
    You need the people, you need the staffing, you need the 
sectors to be open, and you need to be able to handle the 
capacity that we are capable of handling safely--always going 
to prioritize safety, always. But that comes as a result of 
efficiencies.
    And we are talking about the passenger experience, making 
the connections. That is our part of it. Getting you there to 
your vacations on time. That is our part of it. We can't 
effectively do that when we are working too much airspace with 
not enough people, 6-day workweeks, 10-hour days.
    Ms. Hoyle of Oregon. Thank you. And a followup question: 
Could you talk more about why? I mean, why we are counting 
trainees who are not fully certified air traffic controllers in 
the head count of fully staffed people?
    Again, having to fly out of a smaller airport, where we are 
always on the worst end of the staffing struggles, I am 
perplexed and also very concerned about that sort of accounting 
sleight of hand.
    Mr. Santa. It is an accounting sleight of hand. FAA 
finance, FAA budget. It looks better, right? Adding people who 
started yesterday, who 3 years from now might be capably 
comfortable working traffic by themselves, are counted in the 
staffing numbers.
    It is not a transparent report. It is disingenuous to what 
we actually have. It doesn't allow the users--the airlines, the 
industry, Congress--to appropriately and accurately reflect 
what we have in our facilities.
    Ms. Hoyle of Oregon. I know that if there was a difficult 
situation, I would want someone that was fully trained and 
certified, and didn't just start yesterday--no fault to that 
person--handling a situation where so many lives are in danger.
    So, thank you very much, and I yield the rest of my time.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back. Are 
there further questions from any members of the subcommittee 
who have not been recognized?
    Seeing none, that concludes our hearing for today.
    I would like to thank each of the witnesses for your very, 
very learned testimony.
    I ask unanimous consent that the record of today's hearing 
remain open until such time as our witnesses have provided 
answers to any questions that may be submitted to them in 
writing.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    I also ask unanimous consent that the record remain open 
for 15 days for any additional comments and information 
submitted by Members or witnesses to be included in the record 
of today's hearing.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    The subcommittee now stands adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 1:04 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

                       Submissions for the Record

                              ----------                              


  Letter of March 24, 2023, to Hon. Garret Graves, Chairman, and Hon. 
   Steve Cohen, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Aviation, from Jack 
Waldorf, Executive Director, Western Governors' Association, Submitted 
                  for the Record by Hon. Garret Graves
                                                    March 24, 2023.
The Honorable Garret Graves,
Chairman,
Subcommittee on Aviation, Committee on Transportation and 
        Infrastructure, House of Representatives, 2251 Rayburn House 
        Office Building, Washington, DC 20515.
The Honorable Steve Cohen,
Ranking Member,
Subcommittee on Aviation, Committee on Transportation and 
        Infrastructure, House of Representatives, 2164 Rayburn House 
        Office Building, Washington, DC 20515.
    Dear Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Cohen:
    In light of the Subcommittee's March 23, 2023 hearing, FAA 
Reauthorization: Navigating the Comprehensive Passenger Experience, 
attached please find Western Governors' Association policy resolutions:
      2021-07, Transportation Infrastructure in the Western 
United States; and
      2020-07, Rural Development.

    Air transportation is necessary to fulfill the needs of remote 
communities in the West. The Essential Air Service (EAS) Program and 
the Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) serve a 
critical role in providing air transportation and connecting rural 
communities. EAS ensures that these communities can maintain a minimum 
level of scheduled air service and has led to significant economic 
gains in rural areas. SCASDP provides grants to help small communities 
invest in air service and related issues.
    These programs help attract more businesses, workers, and visitors 
to these areas and increase access to important services. Western 
Governors support the reauthorization of both programs and urge 
Congress to consider measures to address challenges in rural air 
connectivity, including funding for infrastructure and service 
subsidies.
    I request that you include this document in the permanent record of 
the hearing, as it articulates Western Governors' policy positions and 
recommendations related to this issue.
    Thank you for your attention to this matter and your consideration 
of this request. Please contact me if you have any questions or require 
further information.
        Sincerely,
                                              Jack Waldorf,
                Executive Director, Western Governors' Association.

Attachments (2)

                                                       Attachment 1
                     Western Governors' Association
                       Policy Resolution 2021-07
       Transportation Infrastructure in the Western United States
A. BACKGROUND
Surface Transportation

    1.  The American West encompasses a huge land mass representing 2.4 
million square miles or over two-thirds of the entire country. Over 116 
million people live in these states and they reside in large, densely 
populated cities, smaller cities and towns and in rural areas.
    2.  Perhaps more than any other region, terrain and landownership 
patterns in the West underscore the purpose and vital need for a 
federal role in surface transportation. Western states are responsible 
for vast expanses of national highways and interstates that often do 
not correlate with population centers but serve as critical national 
freight and transportation routes for the nation.
    3.  Western states ports are national assets, moving needed parts 
and retail goods into the country, while also providing the gateway for 
our nation's exports. Although they benefit the entire country, the 
financial burden of developing, expanding and maintaining them to meet 
the demands of growing trade is almost entirely borne at the state and 
local level.
    4.  The vast stretches of highways and railroad track that connect 
the West to the nation do not have the population densities seen in the 
eastern United States.
    5.  Raising private funds to carry forward infrastructure projects 
in the rural West will be extremely challenging. The low traffic 
volumes in rural states will not support tolls, even if one wanted to 
impose them. Projects in rural areas are unlikely to generate revenues 
that will attract investors to finance those projects, even if the 
revenues are supplemented by tax credits. Some western states have 
implemented or are developing mileage-based fee programs as an 
additional tool to enhance funding.

Transportation Infrastructure

    6.  Jobs, the economy and quality of life in the West depend on 
high quality transportation infrastructure that efficiently, 
effectively and safely moves goods and people. Western transportation 
infrastructure is part of a national network that serves national 
interests. Among other things, transportation infrastructure in the 
West: moves agricultural and natural resource products from source to 
national and world markets; carries goods from western ports on western 
highways and railroad track to eastern and southern cities; and enables 
travelers to visit the great National Parks and other destinations in 
the West.
    7.  The transportation and transit needs in the West differ 
significantly from our eastern counterparts. Western states are 
building new capacity to keep up with growth, including new 
interstates, new multimodal systems including high-speed passenger rail 
and light rail transit systems, biking and pedestrian options, and 
increased capacity on existing infrastructure.
    8.  The infrastructure in the region is under strain from both 
increased movement of goods and people and from underinvestment in 
preservation and repair and new infrastructure needed to keep pace with 
this growth and change. Positive and productive partnerships between 
state department of transportation offices and their local U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration 
(FHWA) office have enabled innovative advances in infrastructure 
funding and development.
    9.  Modernizing and maintaining the West's network of 
infrastructure relies upon permitting and review processes that require 
close coordination and consultation among state, federal and tribal 
governments. State, federal and tribal coordination is necessary to 
ensure that infrastructure projects are designed, financed, built, 
operated and maintained in a manner that meets the needs of our 
economies, environment, public health, safety and security. Early, 
ongoing, substantial, and meaningful state-federal consultation can 
provide efficiency, transparency, and predictability for states and 
tribes, as well as prevent delays, in the federal permitting and 
environmental review process.
    10.  State and local governments often have the best available 
science, data and expertise related to natural resources within their 
borders. In cases where the states have primary management authority, 
such as wildlife and water governance, states also possess the most 
experience in managing those resources and knowledge of state- and 
locality-specific considerations that should inform infrastructure 
siting decisions.
    11.  The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), since its 
enactment in 1970, has required that federal agencies consider how 
proposed federal actions may affect natural, cultural, economic and 
social resources for present and future generations of Americans. The 
process by which NEPA is implemented has been defined over time through 
regulations and guidance issued by the Council on Environmental Quality 
(CEQ).
    12.  On April 27, 2021, FHWA issued a guidance document, State DOTs 
Leveraging Alternative Uses of the Highway Right-of-Way Guidance. The 
guidance encourages FHWA division offices to work with state 
departments of transportation in order to leverage highway rights-of-
way (ROWs) for the siting of renewable energy projects, transmission 
and distribution assets, broadband infrastructure, and alternative 
fueling facilities.

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

    13.  WGA recently executed the Electric Vehicles Roadmap 
Initiative, its signature policy project for Fiscal Year 2021. The 
Initiative was principally focused on the planning, siting and 
coordination of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in 
western states and explored a number of federal policy issues that 
affect the buildout of this infrastructure.
    14.  Western Governors and states are exhibiting strong leadership 
on EV infrastructure planning, coordination, and investment. Many 
western states are actively collaborating with each other via their 
engagement in the West Coast Electric Highway \1\ and Regional Electric 
Vehicles Plan for the West \2\ (REV West).
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    \1\ California, Oregon and Washington are members of the West Coast 
Electric Highway.
    \2\ Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, 
and Wyoming are members of the REV West.
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    15.  Western states face a suite of challenges related to planning 
and siting EV infrastructure, including the unique needs of both 
underserved and rural communities, vast distances between communities, 
limited electric grid infrastructure in sparsely populated areas, and a 
patchwork of federal, state, and private lands ownership boundaries. 
These factors combine to make EV infrastructure installations more 
logistically challenging and costly, regardless of whether the 
infrastructure is funded by public or private sources or a combination 
of the two.
    16.  Many western states have engaged with and submitted corridor 
nominations to the FHWA's Alternative Fuel Corridors Program. The 
Program assigns ``Corridor-Pending'' and ``Corridor-Ready'' 
designations for interstate, U.S. route, and state highways.
    17.  In order to meet the ``Corridor-Pending'' and ``Corridor-
Ready'' metrics, charging or alternative fueling infrastructure must be 
sited every 100 or 50 miles, respectively, along the proposed corridor. 
A number of western states have experienced challenges in meeting these 
defined metrics due to lacking electric infrastructure and suitable 
charging locations in sparsely populated areas.
    18.  23 U.S.C. 111 prohibits Interstate System rest areas built 
after January 1, 1960, from offering commercial services such as fuel 
and food on the Interstate System right-of-way. Due to this 
prohibition, EV charging stations may be sited at Interstate System 
rest areas, but no fee may be charged for the electricity that is 
dispensed. This significantly complicates the business case for siting 
EV charging infrastructure at these rest areas. Western Governors 
support amending 23 U.S.C. 111 to allow commercial EV charging at all 
rest areas along the Interstate, but we would note that western states 
are especially affected by the current prohibition because many rest 
areas in the West are located far from communities or businesses that 
could offer suitable locations for EV charging.
    19.  Western states contain many public federal lands, including 
areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service 
and U.S. Forest Service. Many of these federal lands serve as regional 
tourism attractions and support economic development in rural western 
communities. Creating and implementing efficient practices for 
permitting and siting EV infrastructure on federal lands will help 
support continued tourism and economic opportunities across the West.
    20.  Private investments in zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) charging 
and fueling infrastructure can be aided by supportive investment tax 
credit structures. The current Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling 
Property Investment Tax Credit could be enhanced to improve the 
business case for private sector investment in ZEV charging and fueling 
infrastructure.
    21.  The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Vehicle Technologies 
Office manages the Clean Cities Coalition (CCC) Program, which has 
active members across the West. CCCs often serve a crucial role at the 
local level by leading EV infrastructure planning and implementation 
projects.
    22.  The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted disruptions to domestic 
supply chains across many sectors. On February 24, 2021, President 
Biden signed an Executive Order on America's Supply Chains (EO 14017). 
The EO launches a comprehensive review of certain U.S. supply chains 
and directs federal departments and agencies to identify ways to secure 
U.S. supply chains against a wide range of risks and vulnerabilities. 
Two supply chains included in the review are critical minerals, 
including rare earth elements, and large capacity batteries such as 
those used in electric vehicle production.
    23.  Battery EVs require a number of critical minerals in their 
production, including lithium, nickel and cobalt, among others. 
Consumption of these critical minerals essential to EV supply chains 
will rise as more EV batteries are produced. EVs sold in 2019 alone 
accounted for more than one quarter of the total battery capacity 
deployed nationwide.\3\ With increasing demand for EVs, it is projected 
that demand for these minerals will concurrently increase in coming 
decades.
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    \3\ https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/ev-battery-
recycling-fact-sheet.pdf

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Aviation

    24.  Lack of reliable air service is a significant barrier to 
fulfilling the needs of rural communities in the West. Air service is 
essential infrastructure for connecting many remote communities. It is 
important not only to recreation and emergency services, but to 
economic, social and cultural needs. In some communities it is the only 
way to bring doctors or other non-local workers in and out of where 
they work but may not live.
    25.  The DOT Essential Air Service (EAS) Program was put into place 
in 1978 to guarantee that small communities served by certificated air 
carriers before passage of the Airline Deregulation Act maintained a 
minimum level of scheduled air service. This is generally accomplished 
by DOT subsidizing two round trips a day with 30- to 50-seat aircraft, 
or additional frequencies with aircraft with 9 seats or fewer, usually 
to a large- or medium-hub airport. The Department currently subsidizes 
commuter and certificated air carriers to serve communities in Alaska 
and in the lower 48 contiguous states that otherwise would not receive 
any scheduled air service.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ DOT Essential Air Service Program
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    26.  Of the communities that participate in EAS, 63 percent are in 
the West, illustrating the rurality of these areas and their need for 
connectivity. EAS has a significant economic effect on rural 
communities. A 1 percent increase in traffic to an EAS airport results 
in a 0.12 percent increase in income for the entire community, and an 8 
percent increase in traffic results in a 1 percent income increase. 
Businesses need connectivity to the national and global economy to 
succeed and rural communities with good air service are more attractive 
to remote workers.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ WGA Reimagining the Rural West Initiative Appendix
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    27.  The Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) 
is a DOT grant program designed to help small communities address air 
service and airfare issues. SCASDP's eligibility criteria are broader 
than EAS and provide a grant applicant the opportunity to self-identify 
its air service deficiencies and propose an appropriate solution 
compared to an EAS direct subsidy.\6\ Air service started by the SCASDP 
often continues without further funding once the grant is over, 
exemplifying that the service proves itself to be commercially viable 
beyond its value to the community and the public.\7\
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    \6\ DOT Small Community Air Service Development Program
    \7\ WGA Reimagining the Rural West Initiative Appendix
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B. GOVERNORS' POLICY STATEMENT
Surface Transportation

    1.  Western Governors believe there is a strong federal role, in 
partnership with the states and local governments, for the continued 
investment in our surface transportation network--particularly on 
federal routes and in multimodal transportation networks throughout the 
West that are critical to interstate commerce and a growing economy. 
These routes and networks traverse hundreds of miles without traffic 
densities sufficient to either make public-private partnerships 
feasible or allow state and local governments to raise capital beyond 
the historic cost share.
    2.  Western Governors believe the current project decision-making 
role of state and local governments, with meaningful participation from 
affected communities, particularly tribes and historically underserved 
communities, in investment decisions should continue. Western Governors 
desire additional flexibility to determine how and where to deploy 
investment in order to maximize the use of scarce resources.
    3.  Western Governors believe that a viable, long-term funding 
mechanism is critical to the maintenance and expansion of our surface 
transportation network and encourage Congress to work together to 
identify a workable solution that adequately funds the unique needs of 
the West.
    4.  Western Governors believe in enhancing the ability to leverage 
scarce resources by supplementing traditional base funding by creating 
and enhancing financing mechanisms and tools that are appropriate for 
all areas of the United States, including those with low traffic 
densities where tolling and public private partnerships are not 
feasible.
    5.  Western Governors believe using the historic formula-based 
approach for the distribution of funds would ensure that both rural and 
urban states participate in any infrastructure initiative and it would 
deliver the benefits of an infrastructure initiative to the public 
promptly.
    6.  Western Governors believe the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) and the 
programs it supports are critically important to success in efforts to 
maintain and improve America's surface transportation infrastructure. 
Currently, the HTF will not be able to support even current federal 
surface transportation program levels and will not meet the needs of 
the country that will grow as the economy grows. Congress must provide 
a long-term solution to ensure HTF solvency and provide for increased, 
sustainable federal transportation investment through the HTF.
    7.  Western Governors strongly encourage western states port 
operators and their labor unions to work together to avoid future work 
slowdowns by resolving labor issues well before contracts are set to 
expire. In recent years, protracted disagreement in bargaining between 
parties has had an adverse effect on the American economy that should 
not be repeated.
    8.  Western Governors believe modern ports infrastructure is 
essential to strong national and western economy and urge Congress to 
fully fund the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and to reform the Harbor 
Maintenance Tax to ensure western ports remain competitive. 
Furthermore, Western Governors believe the federal government must work 
collaboratively with states, along with ports, local governments and 
key private sector transportation providers like the railroads, to 
ensure the necessary public and private investments to move imports and 
exports efficiently through the intermodal system, as well as community 
organizers and the Environmental Protection Agency's National 
Environmental Justice Advisory Council to effectively mitigate 
environmental and public health impacts to port communities.

Transportation Infrastructure

    9.  Western Governors believe regulation accompanying federal 
transportation programs should be evaluated and if necessary, revised 
to encourage expediting project delivery and streamlining the 
environmental review process without diminishing environmental 
standards or safeguards.
    10.  The federal infrastructure permitting and environmental review 
process must be transparent, predictable, accessible and consistent for 
states, project developers, and affected community stakeholders. 
Federal processes must ensure that agencies set, and adhere to, 
timelines and schedules for completion of reviews and develop improved 
metrics for tracking and accountability.
    11.  Federal programs that increase bottom-up coordination among 
agencies, state and local governments and that foster collaboration 
among project proponents and diverse stakeholders, particularly rural 
communities, underserved communities, and tribes can create efficiency 
and predictability in the NEPA process, including reducing the risks of 
delays due to litigation.
    12.  Western Governors encourage consistency in the implementation 
of NEPA within and among agencies and across regions. The federal 
government should identify and eliminate inconsistencies in 
environmental review and analysis across agencies to make the process 
more efficient.

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

    13.  Western Governors emphasize western states' collaborative 
efforts to improve the planning and siting of EV charging 
infrastructure to promote equitable access, particularly along highway 
corridors, rural areas, underserved communities, or anywhere that users 
do not have the ability to charge at home. We encourage Congress and 
the Administration to leverage these state partnerships when designing 
federal programs and allocating surface transportation and 
infrastructure funds focused on EV infrastructure. Coordinating with 
these multi-state groups would help promote targeted investments and 
partnerships that expand cohesive, regional EV charging networks.
    14.  Western Governors request that FHWA promote additional 
flexibility within the Alternative Fuel Corridors program to recognize 
the unique geographic and infrastructure conditions in western states. 
Western Governors and states are eager to work with FHWA to ensure that 
western states are not adversely affected by federal funding 
opportunities that are tethered to Alternative Fuel Corridors 
``Corridor-Pending'' and ``Corridor-Ready'' designations.
    15.  Western Governors support legislative measures that address 
prohibitions within 23 U.S.C. 111 that limit the siting of EV charging 
stations at Interstate System rest areas and the issuance of a fee for 
the use of that infrastructure.
    16.  Promoting visitation to federal public lands and state parks 
is a high priority for Western Governors. Western Governors would 
welcome the opportunity to work with state and federal land management 
agencies to address challenges that affect the permitting and siting of 
EV charging infrastructure on state and federal public lands.
    17.  Western Governors support legislative efforts that seek to 
extend and expand the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property 
Investment Tax Credit and improve the business case, especially in 
rural and underserved areas, for private investment in ZEV charging and 
refueling infrastructure.
    18.  Western Governors emphasize the important functions that Clean 
Cities Coalitions have served in coordinating and implementing ZEV 
infrastructure projects across the West and encourage Congress to 
provide funding support for the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office and 
Clean Cities Coalition Network.
    19.  Western Governors support strengthening domestic supply chains 
of critical minerals vital to electric vehicle battery production 
without compromising environmental and health and safety standards. 
Governors also support development of emerging tools and technologies 
that address barriers to mineral supply chain reliability, including 
technologies that help recycle or reuse existing critical mineral 
resources for use in electric vehicles and other clean energy 
technologies.

Aviation

    20.  Western Governors encourage the executive branch to include 
full funding for the EAS and SCASDP programs in the President's annual 
budget request. Western Governors also support legislative actions to 
maintain and secure the longevity of these programs.
C. GOVERNORS' MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE
    1.  The Governors direct WGA staff to work with Congressional 
committees of jurisdiction, the Executive Branch, and other entities, 
where appropriate, to achieve the objectives of this resolution.
    2.  Furthermore, the Governors direct WGA staff to consult with the 
Staff Advisory Council regarding its efforts to realize the objectives 
of this resolution and to keep the Governors apprised of its progress 
in this regard.

This resolution will expire in June 2024. Western Governors enact new 
policy resolutions and amend existing resolutions on a semiannual 
basis. Please consult http://www.westgov.org/resolutions for the most 
current copy of a resolution and a list of all current WGA policy 
resolutions.

                                                       Attachment 2
                     Western Governors' Association
                       Policy Resolution 2020-07
                           Rural Development
A. BACKGROUND
    1.  Vibrant and prosperous rural communities are essential 
components of western states and the nation. Rural communities in the 
West grow and supply food, steward natural resources, contribute 
disproportionately to the armed services, and are critical to state 
economies.
    2.  Rural communities in the West are richly diverse and face 
varying threats and opportunities. They do, however, share common 
characteristics, such as low population density and distance from urban 
centers, that create challenges for economic development.
    3.  Nationally, the rural population is increasing slowly after a 
period of decline from 2010-2017, although there is great variation in 
demographic trends at the county level. Many rural western counties are 
experiencing population growth due to net migration of retirees as well 
as people seeking quality of life and amenities.
    4.  Most rural communities have a higher proportion of older 
residents than urban and suburban communities. Rural communities are 
preparing for an anticipated wave of retirements, leading to a 
reduction in skilled workforce and potential closure of local 
businesses.
    5.  Western states have many of the highest per-capita veteran 
populations in the nation. It is estimated that approximately 25 
percent of all veterans live in rural areas. These veterans have lower 
rates of employment compared to veterans living in urban areas and to 
their non-veteran rural colleagues.
    6.  Most rural communities have experienced slower economic and job 
growth than their urban counterparts and have not yet fully recovered 
from the 2008 recession. Many rural economies rely heavily on a few 
industries. This makes these communities more sensitive to trends 
affecting those industries and can make it more difficult to recover 
from disruptions. Rural communities have also been significantly 
affected by the COVID-19 public health threat and will suffer distress 
from any associated economic downturn.
    7.  Federal programs for rural development are spread across 
multiple agencies. Some agencies are responsible for rural 
infrastructure investments while others focus on economic development. 
The multiplicity of administrating entities and the lack of consistency 
across agencies: renders it difficult for rural stakeholders to 
navigate federal programs; compounds time and expense needed to apply 
for funding opportunities; and creates inefficiencies in the 
distribution of resources.
    8.  The vast majority of federal loan and grant programs for rural 
communities are targeted to physical infrastructure. Little funding 
exists to support development of local capacity, including 
strengthening community organizations, nonprofit entities, and other 
groups serving rural communities.
    9.  By offering opportunity, connectivity, and quality of life, 
rural communities can thrive and prosper while improving economic 
stability and protecting the rural character and natural resources that 
draw people to these areas.
    10.  Small businesses, including farming and ranching, are the 
foundation of rural economies, generating tax revenue, creating jobs, 
providing essential goods and services, and contributing to the culture 
and character of small towns. Building a successful business in a rural 
community is particularly challenging due to limited access to capital, 
available workforce and smaller customer bases. Many successful rural 
businesses operate on thin margins and if they close, are extremely 
difficult to replace.
    11.  High-speed internet, commonly referred to as ``broadband,'' 
\1\ is the critical infrastructure of the 21st century and a modern-day 
necessity for individuals, businesses, schools and government. Many 
rural western communities lack the business case for private broadband 
investment due to the high cost of infrastructure and the low number of 
customers in potential service areas. This has left many rural 
businesses and citizens at a competitive disadvantage compared to urban 
and suburban areas with robust broadband access.
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    \1\ The Federal Communications Commission defines fixed 
``broadband'' as service offering minimum speeds of 25 Megabits per 
second (Mbps) down and 3 Mbps up.
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    12.  Transportation connectivity is critical to strengthening 
economies and improving quality of life. Air service is particularly 
important to connect remote western communities to urban hubs. Pilot 
shortages, infrastructure constraints, and airline consolidation have 
negatively impacted rural air connectivity. The airline industry has 
been significantly impacted by COVID-19 and rural service, which is 
typically the least profitable, has been reduced.
B. GOVERNORS' POLICY STATEMENT
    1.  Western Governors believe that strengthening social 
infrastructure in rural communities is the best strategy to ensure 
rural quality of life and prosperity. Congress and federal agencies 
should increase the proportion of rural economic development and 
infrastructure funding that goes toward capacity-building. Accordingly, 
Western Governors call for ample and consistent federal funding for 
institutions, training, and technical assistance. Robust social 
infrastructure is fundamental to economic and community development and 
maximizes the impact of state and federal resources.
    2.  Social infrastructure is especially critical during disasters 
or crises. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis have 
illustrated the challenge of rapidly deploying resources to the most 
urgent needs. Western Governors are committed to strengthening the 
resilience of rural communities by helping to foster local leadership 
and strengthen networks and connections within and among rural 
communities across the West.
    3.  Western Governors believe that many federal programs for rural 
development and distressed communities include unintended barriers for 
rural individuals and entities that need assistance most. Western 
Governors urge federal agencies to work with states to: thoroughly 
evaluate program requirements; identify barriers for rural applicants; 
and revise onerous requirements in a manner that recognizes the limited 
resources and capacity of rural applicants. In particular, Western 
Governors are concerned by:
      a.  Scoring criteria that relate to numerical size and impact, 
such as the number of jobs created or the number of people served, 
which disadvantage small and isolated communities;
      b.  Requirements that applicants partner with other institutions 
like community colleges or foundations, which may not operate in the 
rural community seeking assistance;
      c.  Financial match or cash-on-hand requirements that rural 
organizations cannot meet; and
      d.  Overly complicated or technical applications that deter rural 
customers from applying.

    4.  Western Governors also urge federal agencies to use state data 
for eligibility determinations when requested by states. States often 
have more up-to-date and granular data for rural communities than 
federal sources.
    5.  Western Governors recognize and support efforts at the federal 
and state level to coordinate the deployment of resources, leverage 
funding, and create one-stop application processes for rural customers. 
Western Governors are interested in exploring strategies to expand 
those models to include more funders and further enhance coordination 
between agencies and between states and the federal government.
    6.  Western Governors believe that changes in our economy, labor 
force, and technological innovations require fundamental changes in 
economic development strategies. Western Governors promote rural 
development policies that focus on quality of life and the support of 
small businesses and entrepreneurs. This will develop rural communities 
that are attractive places to live and work while protecting their 
rural character, natural resource-based industries, and natural areas.
    7.  In the wake of disasters in rural communities, including the 
COVID-19 pandemic, providing small businesses with the tools and 
resources to survive disruption and prosper again is critical for 
economic recovery and social stability. The impacts of COVID-19 
mitigation measures have illustrated the urgent need for working 
capital to stabilize rural businesses and ensure their continued 
viability during periods of prolonged disruption related to disasters 
and emergencies. The federal response to declared disasters must 
include sufficient and accessible business stabilization funds, 
including grants and long-term, forgivable loans. Congress should also 
examine how such funds are distributed by the Small Business 
Administration (SBA), U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development 
(USDA RD), and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to ensure 
that adequate systems are in place to handle demand during widespread 
emergencies.
    8.  During COVID-19 response, many small lenders could not access 
federal funds to support their communities because they did not meet 
program thresholds or were unable to compete against large banks. Small 
lenders, including community development financial institutions 
(CDFIs), community banks, and credit unions, are often the only lender 
serving rural and tribal communities. In the ongoing response to the 
economic impacts of COVID-19, Western Governors encourage Congress to 
set aside emergency relief funds for small lenders and consider program 
requirements that allow those entities to participate through a 
streamlined process to rapidly distribute resources while maintaining 
fiscal accountability.
    9.  Western Governors are eager to work with public universities, 
community colleges, and the business community to expand opportunities 
for young people to stay in their rural communities. There is a high 
demand for skilled workers in rural communities and states should work 
together on regional solutions that provide the appropriate training 
and skills for the jobs that are available in rural communities where 
possible. Western Governors are also committed to increasing employment 
among veterans and the disabled community in the rural West.
    10.  Western Governors encourage increased flexibility in the use 
of federal economic development resources (particularly EDA funds) to 
facilitate investments in quality of life and amenities in rural 
communities. Governors believe that metrics based solely on the 
absolute number of jobs created do not reflect the important economic 
benefits of investments in community assets that make rural communities 
attractive places to live. Nor do they account for the relative impact 
of job creation in less populated rural communities or areas with high 
unemployment or poverty rates.
    11.  Western Governors strongly support improving and increasing 
broadband connectivity in the rural West through significant federal 
investments in mapping, deployment, and adoption. The Governors have 
highlighted substantive policy recommendations in the Western 
Governors' Association policy resolution addressing broadband 
connectivity.
    12.  Western Governors have developed robust policies addressing 
the challenge of providing services and maintaining infrastructure 
essential to communities across the vast expanse of the rural West. 
These policies address broadband access, healthcare, surface 
transportation and water quality. Western Governors are committed to 
working with Congress and federal agencies to improve the efficacy of 
federal and state programs to support critical infrastructure in the 
rural West.
    13.  Western Governors recommend further changes in approach to 
supporting water and wastewater infrastructure in the West:
      a.  Funding for communities not served by water systems is 
critically needed. Western Governors recommend set-asides to develop 
innovative solutions for communities and tribes that cannot be served 
by traditional systems.
      b.  Western Governors are concerned about shortages of certified 
water system operators and request a coordinated effort to increase 
training opportunities through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Labor and college 
and university programs that develop these skilled workers to ensure 
that existing water access in rural communities can be maintained.

    14.  Western Governors emphasize that air service is a necessity in 
many rural communities. As the airline industry recovers from the 
economic impacts of COVID-19, Western Governors urge Congress to 
consider measures to address challenges in rural air connectivity, 
including funding for infrastructure and service subsidies.
    15.  Western Governors support the use of cooperative business 
models to preserve rural businesses and fill community needs for 
childcare, homecare, main street businesses, housing, and more. Western 
Governors recognize the need for substantial technical assistance and 
education in developing new cooperative businesses and support federal 
funding of such efforts.
    16.  Western Governors are concerned by food security challenges in 
rural communities. Rural grocery store closures jeopardize livability 
and community health. Western Governors are interested in exploring 
strategies to ensure rural food security by strengthening local 
agricultural economies and developing regional approaches to rural food 
supply chains.
    17.  Housing remains a critical challenge in rural communities 
across the West. Western Governors are committed to working together to 
share best practices and effective solutions for housing preservation 
and development in the rural West.
    18.  The Cooperative Extension System, which serves every county in 
western states, is an important asset for rural development. Western 
Governors believe that Cooperative Extension can play a more meaningful 
role in economic development efforts in distressed communities and 
support continued investment in the system as it responds to the 
changing needs of rural communities. Western Governors are committed to 
maximizing the efficacy of Cooperative Extension in their states.
C. GOVERNORS' MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE
    1.  The Governors direct WGA staff to work with Congressional 
committees of jurisdiction, the Executive Branch, and other entities, 
where appropriate, to achieve the objectives of this resolution.
    2.  Furthermore, the Governors direct WGA staff to consult with the 
Staff Advisory Council regarding its efforts to realize the objectives 
of this resolution and to keep the Governors apprised of its progress 
in this regard.

Western Governors enact new policy resolutions and amend existing 
resolutions on a bi-annual basis. Please consult www.westgov.org/
resolutions for the most current copy of a resolution and a list of all 
current WGA policy resolutions.

                                Appendix

                              ----------                              


 Questions from Hon. Mark DeSaulnier to Sharon Pinkerton, Senior Vice 
   President, Legislative and Regulatory Policy, Airlines for America

    Question 1. With airline deregulation, airlines became more 
invested in making a profit. This seems to have shifted the financial 
model away from ensuring staff have the tools and knowledge they need 
to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and operate at the highest 
levels of safety. How can we work to improve staff knowledge and 
aviation safety, while also addressing the issues of technology 
modernization?
    Answer. Please let me assure you that there has never been any 
shift away from a robust and improving safety culture within the 
aviation industry. Safety is the bedrock framework from which our 
industry operates, and safety is and will always remain our North Star. 
While the data clearly shows that our aviation system is safe, and by 
far the safest mode of transportation including walking, we also know 
we cannot ever be complacent. Our safety systems have many layers and 
many redundancies but there is clearly no ceiling on improvement.
    Airlines consistently invest in safety, through training, 
technologies, and Safety Management Systems (SMS) to identify, analyze 
and mitigate risks including technology modernization factors. Airlines 
work closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aircraft 
and avionics manufacturers to ensure latest technologies are properly 
incorporated into the aircraft, effectively interface with FAA's Air 
Traffic Control/Management system and crew members receive the 
necessary training to address those modifications. For example:

        DataComm which is a program to replace many of the verbal 
        commands and information shared between pilots and controllers 
        using certified text messaging requires certification of the 
        aircraft equipment and proper training for pilots, controllers 
        and dispatchers on how to utilize the new technology.

    Airline heavily invest in systems to improve safety across all 
disciplines and recognize that human factors and automation and/or 
modernization issues need to be incorporated into existing and robust 
safety systems in order to recognize or predict risk and take actions 
to address those issues. There is no higher priority within any airline 
than safety.

    Question 2. Nearly 75 percent of civil and military aviation 
accidents have been attributed to human errors at some level of 
manufacturing, maintenance, or operations.\1\ These changes in 
technology can impact how people interact with and react to new 
information, particularly in times of crisis. How can we work to ensure 
that, with new technology and innovation, we prioritize minimizing the 
role of human factors and their contribution to aviation safety risk?
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    \1\ https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/83484
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    Answer. The FAA and air carriers utilize several robust safety 
programs to track trends of aircraft operations in an effort to review 
and anticipate how new technologies can be safely implemented. 
Specifically, amongst others, the industry and the FAA work jointly to 
identify trends as part of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) 
and the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system 
process. ASIAS provides the FAA and air carriers with a technology 
architecture capable of advanced analytical capabilities. In fact, this 
analysis has led the CAST to adopt more than 100 safety enhancements, 
with the last 22 being based on information derived from the ASIAS 
data.
    For flight crews specifically, human factors and crew resource 
management principles are constantly trained and reinforced throughout 
all phases of training; ground school, initial, transition, upgrade, 
recurrent/continuing qualification, re-qualification, and operating 
experience. Each time a new system or procedure is introduced it is 
thoroughly analyzed for its potential human factors and crew resource 
management impact on the operating crew.
    As the FAA has noted these types of analytical tools, along with 
additional data sources and capabilities will help our robust safety 
system evolve in response to both expanded access to shared data and to 
technological innovation.

    Question 3. How can we work with airlines to maintain customer 
confidence in the aviation industry, particularly the technology 
utilized by aircraft and airport crews, especially given the string of 
near misses just this year?
    Answer. As noted in the A4A written testimony, we want the 
Committee to be assured that safety is the bedrock framework from which 
our industry operates, and safety is and will always remain our North 
Star. While the data shows that our aviation system is safe, and by far 
the safest mode of transportation including walking, the recent 
incidents we have seen in the system are reminders that we cannot ever 
be complacent. A4A member airlines welcome discussion and focus on 
safety and we all know we must remain vigilant. Our safety systems have 
many layers and many redundancies but there is no ceiling on 
improvement.
    We also know that the COVID pandemic changed our industry. Given 
the hiring airlines have done in the last few years, we know that a 
greater percentage of our employees now are less experienced than pre-
pandemic. Our job is not just to keep up with change, but to stay two 
steps ahead. That is why our carriers have taken steps, well before 
FAA's Safety Summit, to ensure that we are focused on training, 
proficiency requirements and mentoring as tools to ensure our workforce 
is well prepared.
    We believe customer confidence can also be improved by better 
management of the air traffic control system. The federal government 
must also recognize the role they play in the operation of the system 
and be nimbler to address air traffic controller shortages and ensure 
that safety improving technologies are fielded in the right places and 
on a more advanced deployment schedule.

                             [all]