[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 163 (Tuesday, October 2, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6428-S6430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        FAA Reauthorization Act

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of the 
Federal Aviation Administration, or the FAA, Reauthorization Act of 
2018. This bill provides needed certainty in aviation and gives the FAA 
authority to enhance consumer protections and passenger safety. It also 
maintains critical investments that will help to modernize and maintain 
our aviation infrastructure.
  This agreement is the product of bipartisan negotiations over the 
last several months. I am proud to serve on the Commerce Committee, 
which played a major role here. I thank Senator Thune and Senator 
Nelson for their work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support 
it.
  Minnesota has a long aviation tradition, from Charles Lindbergh to 
our Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Two years in a row, it 
was ranked as the best airport in America. We manufacture jets in 
Duluth at Cirrus. We manufacture parachutes that go with those jets in 
our State. We have first-rate military training bases for aviation in 
Bloomington and in Duluth. We have very strong regional airports, 
including Duluth and Rochester, which has recently expanded its 
airport. It matters in our State.
  For too long, the aviation sector of our economy has had to rely on a 
series of short-term extensions. It is not good for workers, and it is 
not good for businesses. That is not good for travelers who use our 
services. For airports looking to expand or airlines looking to test 
new routes, these short-term bills created uncertainty that hampered 
growth and prevented new investments.
  This 5-year reauthorization bill will provide the long-term stability 
needed to encourage investments and help maintain American leadership 
in the global aviation marketplace. We know a lot about that in our 
State, being a major Delta hub, as well as the home of Sun Country 
Airlines. We know the kind of global competition that we are up against 
all the time. That is a very important reason for America to be a 
leader in aviation and not a follower.
  Changes in the airline industry in recent years have drastically 
altered the way consumers travel. New fees and complicated itineraries 
can make even routine travel confusing and expensive. Thankfully, this 
FAA bill builds on important work we have done in past reauthorizations 
to strengthen protections for consumers while shopping, booking, and 
traveling.
  Most people know what it is like to show up to the airport and be 
shocked to find out that you have to pay extra for your seat or that 
checking a bag is going to cost you an arm and a leg. When consumers 
don't have this information up front, they can be left paying hundreds 
of dollars in fees they didn't budget for, which can mean the 
difference between a family trip being affordable or not.
  It isn't just fees. In some instances, online travel websites have 
sold unnecessarily complicated passenger itineraries, provided outdated 
or incorrect travel information on their websites, and failed to 
provide appropriate disclosures for passengers. That is why I worked to 
include an amendment to provide a consistent level of consumer 
protections, regardless of where the airfares are purchased. This part 
of the bill will ensure that, whether a consumer books tickets directly 
with an airline or from a third party, the consumer will receive the 
same level of price disclosures and customer service.
  This was a provision strongly supported by consumer groups because it 
is such a problem that there were different types of price disclosures 
and customer service, depending on how a consumer booked the flight. It 
doesn't matter where you book the flight or how you book the flight, 
you should have consumer protection. This bill includes that provision.
  This bill will also make important improvements to the passenger 
experience on the plane. By directing the FAA to set standards for the 
size of airline seats, we will make sure passengers can travel safely 
and these seats will not get even smaller than they already are.
  The agreement also includes a provision to make clear that once a 
passenger has boarded a plane, they can't be involuntarily bumped by an 
airline. Passengers deserve to be treated with respect throughout their 
entire journey, and this will end the practice of removing paying 
customers to accommodate airline employees.
  The bill sets new requirements for airlines to promptly return fees 
for services, such as seat assignments or early boarding, when these 
services are purchased and not received by a customer.
  In addition to the strong consumer protections, this bill makes new 
infrastructure investments that will help to ensure passengers have a 
safe and efficient travel experience.
  Smaller regional airports provide a vital link to the rest of the 
world for many rural communities. In my State, both residents and 
businesses located near these rural airports rely on them to connect to 
the Twin Cities and beyond.
  The Essential Air Service Program is a critical tool that supports 
rural air service. This bill boosts EAS funding to help maintain the 
operations of smaller, regional airports across Minnesota and across 
our country. Of course, funding alone isn't enough to improve aviation 
infrastructure. We need policies that support the unique infrastructure 
needs in different regions of the country.
  In the 2012 FAA reauthorization, I included a provision to require 
that the Department of Transportation give priority review to 
construction projects in cold weather States with shorter construction 
seasons. For those of us who live in States that happen to have cold 
weather and snow, our construction seasons are shorter, and that means 
we have less time to work on these projects than maybe they do in Miami 
or in California. What we did here was to make sure that the FAA 
realized that in how they did grants and how they got these 
construction permits approved.
  Anyone who has ever been to Northern Minnesota in April or October 
understands that our construction season is shorter. There is a reason 
we have cold weather testing facilities on the Canadian border in our 
State, because that is the coldest conditions you can possibly have for 
cars. That makes for this short construction season.
  This provision was included again in the current bill, and it will 
help to ensure that cold weather States like Minnesota can make the 
most out of our limited construction seasons.
  The investments made by this bill are an important down payment that 
will help to address the growing demand for air transportation. I look 
forward to building on the progress made by this bill with bipartisan 
infrastructure legislation to support 21st century aviation 
infrastructure that is prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century 
economy.
  I wish to thank my colleagues again for their work on this bill. It 
makes

[[Page S6429]]

important advances in security, consumer protections, and 
infrastructure development. I was proud to be a part of this, and I 
also am glad these provisions I worked hard on are included in the 
bill. The aviation industry and American air passengers will be safer 
because of this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan 
agreement so we can pass, finally, a long-term extension into law.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MARKEY. Thank you, Mr. President.
  It is Congress's obligation to protect the public from abusive 
practices that harm consumers and dull the competitive process. 
Regrettably, Congress has failed to fulfill that obligation with the 
FAA reauthorization bill.
  With this bill, Congress has missed a historic, once-in-a-generation 
opportunity to stop gargantuan airlines from gouging Americans with 
exorbitant fees. Last year, Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican from 
Mississippi, and I secured a provision in the Senate FAA 
reauthorization bill that would protect passengers from ridiculous, 
sky-high airline fees. Our FAIR Fees--Forbidding Airlines from Imposing 
Ridiculous Fees--provision directed the Department of Transportation 
to, No. 1, assess whether change and cancellation, baggage, and other 
fees are reasonable and proportional to the costs of the services which 
are being provided, and secondly, to ensure that change and 
cancellation fees are reasonable.
  Airline fees would be fair and reasonable--that is all the provision 
did. The reason we need that is simple. In a truly competitive 
industry, an airline would be unable to charge unreasonable fees 
because their competitors would undercut their prices. Darwinian, 
paranoia-inducing competition would drive down fees to reflect the 
actual costs of the services provided--the cost to check a bag, the 
cost to change a flight reservation, the cost of booking a passenger on 
standby for an earlier flight. Fair and reasonable. But the airline 
industry is far from competitive. In the past 10 years, we have gone 
from 10 major airlines down to 4. Four airlines now control 85 percent 
of traffic in the skies. An analysis from the U.S. Travel Association 
found that 74 airports are served by only 1 airline, while 155 airports 
are dominated by 1 carrier controlling over 50 percent of seat 
capacity. Here is the result: sky-high airline fees and a growing 
frustration with the modern flying experience.
  To the surprise of no one, the airline industry launched a ferocious 
lobbying blitz against our bipartisan FAIR Fees provision, making its 
elimination from the bill their top priority. The airline industry 
lobbed all sorts of false accusations against these commonsense 
protections--profitability of the airlines would go down, passengers 
would no longer be able to change or cancel their flights--but not once 
did the industry actually defend the price of all of these fees to 
cancel or to change a flight. Not once did the industry actually 
demonstrate that their fees are reasonable and proportional to the cost 
of the services provided. That is because those costs are not 
proportional to the services being provided to the customer by the 
airlines.
  The independent Government Accountability Office, GAO, recently 
released a report confirming what countless passengers across the 
country already know to be true: Airlines are gouging captive 
passengers to line their pockets, not to cover the actual costs of the 
services being provided. During a hearing last year, representatives 
from United Airlines and American Airlines testified that their change 
and cancellation fees bear no resemblance to the costs borne by the 
airline for actually canceling a ticket or changing a flight 
reservation.
  Even in the past few weeks, as we worked in Congress to include 
important consumer protection measures in this final FAA legislation, 
the airlines continued to raise fees. That is how confident the 
airlines were that their powerful industry lobbyists would remove my 
provision and Senator Wicker's provision from the bill. Despite 
bipartisan support, despite the provisions included in the Senate bill, 
and despite the public outcry, the airline lobby knew that they could 
count on Congress to do their bidding, so they raised their fees 
anyway.
  Last month, JetBlue Airways changed its cancellation fees from $150 
to $200 for certain flights. JetBlue also raised fees for a passenger's 
first checked bag from $25 to $30 and increased the fees for a second 
checked bag from $35 to $40. That is $140 to check two bags roundtrip. 
Not surprisingly, almost immediately after, United Airlines, Delta 
Airlines, and American Airlines followed suit, raising their bag fees 
to match JetBlue's.
  When I sent letters to the 11 major airlines inquiring as to why 
airline fees are on the rise even though there appears to be no 
appreciable increase in the cost of services provided, the airlines' 
response was predictable.
  Eight airlines had refused to respond to my inquiry by last 
Thursday's deadline--a deadline I set to ensure that this body would 
have this critical information in hand when considering the FAA bill. 
There has been no response from United, American, and Delta. That is 
unacceptable. Of the three airlines that did respond, two could not 
explain whether their fees were reasonable to the costs of the services 
provided. The other refused to address the matter altogether, claiming 
that this information is ``proprietary,'' claiming that the flying 
public does not have the right to know if they are being gouged. That 
is the airline industry's position.
  If it is not to cover the cost of the services provided--checking a 
bag, changing a flight reservation, canceling a ticket--why are the 
airlines charging these fees? The answer is, because they can. Last 
year, the airlines raked in $2.9 billion in change and cancellation 
fees. That is equivalent to the cost of 11 million flights from 
Washington to Boston. The airlines collected over $4.5 billion in 
checked bag fees, which is enough to buy 55 jumbo jets. The airlines 
have turned this nickel-and-diming into a multibillion-dollar 
industry--a $7.4 billion industry last year. Passengers think they are 
buying low-cost airfare, only to be gouged by proliferating airline 
fees.
  The American public wants Congress to stop these abusive practices, 
and here in the Senate, we answered their call. We secured a bipartisan 
provision in the Senate FAA bill that would have stopped this fee 
epidemic once and for all. But through an opaque process and after 
months of lobbying against my bipartisan FAIR Fees provision, the 
airlines won and airline passengers lost.
  What exactly are the airlines so afraid of? Why won't they even 
respond to my letters? The FAIR Fees provision doesn't set fees; it 
only directs the Department of Transportation to set up a public 
process to assess those fees. But that is exactly what the airlines 
oppose. They don't want to have to explain this, to be transparent 
about what they are doing, because if they did, the American people 
would know the truth--this is price-gouging in its purest form.
  On behalf of the American flying public, the millions of Americans 
who are subjected to ridiculous airline fees, I will vote no on the FAA 
bill. And I vow to the public that this fight will not die with this 
bill. As the fees rise, pressure will mount on Congress to address this 
consumer protection, competition issue. We know the problem. FAIR Fees 
would have been the solution, but this bill does not include that 
solution, and this fight must go on.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the bipartisan 
Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018.
  After six short-term extensions ranging from 1 week to just over a 
year, the Senate will finally pass comprehensive legislation that will 
set FAA policy until 2023. These short-term extensions keep the lights 
on, but they deny us the opportunity to make meaningful changes and 
better serve the American people.
  I am a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation, and I am proud of our committee's work that made this 
long-term reauthorization possible, but I am especially thankful to our 
committee chairman, John Thune, and ranking member, Bill Nelson, for 
their leadership throughout this process.
  This bill makes critical investments in airport infrastructure. It 
promotes

[[Page S6430]]

competition and leadership in aviation, increases safety in the 
National Airspace System, and strengthens customer service practices 
across the commercial aviation sector.
  The legislation delivers very strong support to our rural communities 
in Michigan and across the Nation by continuing the Essential Air 
Service, or EAS, Program. This program drives economic development and 
tourism while also connecting local residents to world-class 
healthcare. I will never stop fighting to ensure that Michigan's EAS 
airports--from Muskegon, to Houghton/Hancock, to Alpena--get the 
funding they need to continue to serve their communities.
  In addition to driving sustained investment in rural communities, I 
support this long-term reauthorization because it gave me an 
opportunity to address a number of critical challenges that are facing 
our country. This bill includes provisions I authored that will help 
prepare our students for the high-tech jobs of today and tomorrow, 
secure public spaces in our airports, and remove the outdated Federal 
requirement that airports use firefighting foams containing fluorinated 
chemicals that contaminate groundwater and are causing disastrous human 
health effects across the country.
  The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 will improve the competitiveness 
of our Nation's workforce by clearing the way for our students and 
educators to use unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, for research, 
education, and job training. Whether this technology is used for 
critical infrastructure or boosting crop yields at our farms, UAS 
technology will create tens of thousands of new jobs in the coming 
years, and we need American students and workers ready to take 
advantage of that. That is why I worked across the aisle with Senator 
Moran to introduce the Higher Education Unmanned Air Systems 
Modernization Act and include it in this long-term FAA bill.
  This provision has the support of the Association of Public and Land-
grant Universities, the Association of American Universities, and 
dozens of other colleges and universities all across our Nation.
  Our brightest minds will have the ability to design, refine, and fly 
UAS to prepare our country for the safe integration of UAS into our 
National Airspace System.
  In my home State of Michigan, Alpena Community College has created a 
UAS pilot training program that complements existing certificate 
programs, like the utility technology certificate, making their 
graduates even more competitive.
  This will support job creation across the income spectrum, as our 
Nation's workforce will be able to get the training they need to 
operate these systems both safely and efficiently.
  Ultimately, whether we are talking about UAS, passenger planes in the 
air, or travelers making their way through the airport, this is all 
about safety. In recent years, we have seen high-profile attacks at 
airports around the world but also in places like Flint, MI. These 
attacks have demonstrated the vulnerabilities of heavily trafficked 
public areas outside of security screening, such as baggage claim and 
pickup and dropoff areas.
  I heard from our international airport in Detroit and others across 
the country that current airport funding streams often cannot be used 
for security projects in these public spaces. Their need for greater 
flexibility for airport infrastructure improvements led me and my 
colleague Senator Gardner to introduce the bipartisan Secure Airport 
Public Spaces Act. This legislation would increase safety and security 
for airport passengers and visitors outside of the TSA screening areas. 
A critical provision of our bill was incorporated into this 
reauthorization bill that will now allow airports to use Airport 
Improvement Program funds on state-of-the-art surveillance cameras in 
these public areas, which will help monitor, prevent, and respond to 
potential attacks at airports across our Nation.
  Finally, I would like to discuss what could be our Nation's defining 
public health challenge for generations--a group of harmful chemicals 
known as PFAS. The PFAS class is a group of over 4,700 manmade 
chemicals that have been used nationwide and internationally. These 
chemicals do not break down in the human body or in the environment, 
and they can accumulate over time and cause a great deal of harm. We 
already know that there are several health effects associated with 
exposure to certain PFAS. A few examples include compromised immune 
system function, cancers, endocrine disruption, and cognitive effects.
  I have listened to families exposed to PFAS in Michigan, but PFAS are 
not just a Michigan issue. We know that there are over 170 sites in 40 
States that are contaminated with PFAS. PFAS are so pervasive that it 
is estimated that up to 110 million Americans could have these 
chemicals in their water.
  PFAS chemicals have been used for decades in a wide range of consumer 
products, including textiles, paper products, and cookware. In addition 
to all of these uses, they have also been used in firefighting foams 
for decades. These foams have been used on military bases and in our 
commercial airports. They have been used near businesses and 
neighborhoods, near ground water and surface water, near lakes and 
streams.

  Last week, I worked with Senator Rand Paul to convene a hearing in 
our Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee that addressed the Federal 
Government's role in PFAS. We heard firsthand about the impact of this 
public health crisis on community members, firefighters, and veterans. 
Not only have these foams containing PFAS been used for decades, we are 
still requiring their use at American airports even as safe 
alternatives are now being developed and deployed abroad.
  While there is a lot of work to be done related to remediation, human 
health research, filter technology, and more, we must stop making this 
problem worse. This is why I worked with Senators Sullivan, Stabenow, 
Rubio, Shaheen, Gillibrand, and Hassan to lead a commonsense addition 
to this FAA bill.
  Our bipartisan provision gives airports the option to use fluorine-
free foams. I also appreciate Congressman Kildee for leading this 
effort in the House of Representatives.
  Using fluorine-free foams is not a novel idea, but it is an idea 
whose time has come. Over 70 airports around the world are already 
using fluorine-free foams that have passed the most challenging of 
tests, and they have seen real success in combating fires. These 
airports include major international hubs such as Dubai, London 
Heathrow, Manchester, and Copenhagen. Every major airport in Australia 
has already made this transition.
  It is past time that we catch up, and I am happy too that this 
important legislation will finally allow American airports to embrace 
safe, innovative firefighting technologies and stop using fluorinated 
foams.
  I want to thank Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson, as well as 
Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer, for their work to pass this 
important bipartisan legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to support this critical long-term FAA 
reauthorization that will help keep PFAS out of our water. It will help 
drive investment in our Nation's workforce, and it will help ensure 
that our airports and skies are safe.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.