UNITED STATES NEWS

From compensating travelers to the pilot retirement age, Congress takes up aviation bill

Jul 18, 2023, 1:25 PM

With the frenzied summer travel season in full swing and the aviation system straining to keep up, Congress is expected to vote on legislation that over the next five years will shape the agency responsible for safely managing the nation’s airspace and regulating its airlines.

Lawmakers this week will fight over the Federal Aviation Administration’s rules on everything from how pilots are trained to how long they can work and whether travelers will get more compensation for canceled and delayed flights.

The White House weighed in on Monday, asking House members to keep an Obama-era requirement that advertised airfares must include taxes and mandatory fees, and to add consumer protections proposed by President Joe Biden.

Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to act on the legislation. The House is expected to vote this week on a bill that emerged from the transportation committee with bipartisan support. The Senate is behind schedule on its version, which would authorize more than $100 billion in spending — a committee vote was blocked last month by disagreement over pilot training.

Many provisions in the legislation will affect airline consumers, including one that would roll back a Transportation Department regulation from 2011 requiring airlines to show the total price of a ticket upfront in advertising. Airlines could instead provide a link to the all-in price of a ticket.

Consumer advocates oppose the rollback, and the White House took their side Monday, saying full-fare advertising is needed to help consumers do comparison shopping for tickets.

Airlines point out that most businesses that sell products to consumers do not need to include taxes and fees in the upfront price. Critics say the airlines are trying to kill a regulation that has saved consumers time and money.

“Airlines want to rip off Americans with deceptive, confusing tactics to hide the true cost of flights from customers,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., one of several lawmakers seeking to keep full-fare advertising when the bill moves to the House floor.

The White House also asked Congress to require that airlines compensate passengers when flights are canceled or delayed for reasons within the airline’s control. Under pressure from the administration, most U.S. airlines now say they offer hotel and meal vouchers in those cases.

The Transportation Department wants to go further, and plans to propose regulations to require cash compensation, but that could take years and be challenged in court.

Consumer groups hope that the Senate bill will include more of the provisions they want. They are underwhelmed by the House bill, which emerged as a compromise between Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, and Rick Larsen, a Washington Democrat.

The House bill “was a missed opportunity to fix a lot of problems that consumers have expressed with the airline industry going back decades,” said John Breyault, vice president of the National Consumers League. “We think that the Senate bill goes a lot further” on refunds and the Transportation Department’s authority to protect consumers.

There is broad support for provisions in the House bill that give the FAA money to hire more air traffic controllers, improve technology and work on integrating drones and air taxis into the nation’s airspace.

Other issues are more contentious, particularly a change in pilot training standards that passed the House committee by a single vote. It would count more time in simulators toward the number of flight hours needed to qualify for an airline pilot’s license — the “1,500-hour rule.”

Smaller airlines are lobbying for the change, saying it will ease a pilot shortage that is already causing a loss of service to smaller communities. Opponents claim it will undermine safety.

“A vote to reduce the 1,500-hour rule will be blood on your hands when an inevitable accident occurs as a result of an inadequately trained flight crew,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth told colleagues on the Senate floor last month. The Illinois Democrat is a former Army pilot who lost both her legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.

The House bill would also raise the mandatory retirement age of airline pilots from 65 to 67. Smaller airlines say it is another way to ease the pilot shortage, but pilot unions oppose the change, and the White House called Monday for more research into the subject.

Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines also want Congress to add more long-haul flights at Reagan Washington National Airport. Flights at the airport are generally limited to 1,250 miles –- Dallas, Houston and Minneapolis fall inside that line, but major cities on the West Coast and in the Rockies do not. Delta says the extra service at the close-in airport will drive down fares for visitors to the nation’s capital.

United Airlines, the dominant carrier at less-convenient Dulles Airport, argues that National is already too congested, and more flights will lead to more delays. The FAA agrees, as does American Airlines, the biggest operator at National. The region’s congressional delegation is siding with United, fearing that more flights will increase noise for neighborhoods near National.

United States News

FILE - White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi attends a speech by President Joe Biden about supply c...

Associated Press

Biden rule aims to reduce methane emissions, targeting US oil and gas industry for global warming

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Saturday issued a final rule aimed at reducing methane emissions, targeting the U.S. oil and natural gas industry for its role in global warming as President Joe Biden seeks to advance his climate legacy. The Environmental Protection Agency said the new rule will sharply reduce methane and other […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Trump and DeSantis will hold dueling campaign events in Iowa with the caucuses just six weeks away

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis plans on Saturday to complete his campaign promise to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties, a timeworn tactic for presidential candidates hoping to make their mark in the leadoff state over months mingling with voters at the state’s diners, cookouts and Pizza Ranches. But the Florida governor’s moment, […]

8 hours ago

FILE - Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is shown before administering the oath of office t...

Associated Press

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor paved a path for women on the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — One fall day in 2010, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor slipped into the courtroom where she worked for nearly 25 years to take in an “amazing” sight. The first — and for 12 years, the only — woman on the high court saw three women in black robes among the […]

8 hours ago

Associated Press

US Navy plans to raise jet plane off Hawaii coral reef using inflatable cylinders

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Navy plans to use inflatable cylinders to lift and roll a jet plane off a coral reef in Hawaii before removal from the ocean waters where the aircraft crashed on Nov. 20. Rear Adm. Kevin Lenox, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 3 who is leading the salvage effort, said […]

9 hours ago

Associated Press

Las Vegas police search for suspect after 5 homeless people are shot, killing 2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Five homeless people were shot in Las Vegas on Friday, two of them fatally, and police were searching for a lone suspect, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 5:30 p.m. near a freeway overpass in the northeastern part of the city, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Mark Lourenco. […]

10 hours ago

Associated Press

Judge rejects calls to halt winter construction work on Willow oil project in Alaska during appeal

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge in Alaska on Friday rejected requests from environmental groups to halt winter construction work for the massive Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope while the groups’ legal fight over the drilling project wages on. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason just last month upheld the Biden administration’s […]

11 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

(KTAR News Graphic)...

KTAR launches online holiday auction benefitting Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley

KTAR is teaming up with The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley for a holiday auction benefitting thousands of Valley kids.

Follow @KTAR923...

The 2023 Diamondbacks are a good example to count on the underdog

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the World Series as a surprise. That they made the playoffs at all, got past the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card round, swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS and won two road games in Philadelphia to close out a full seven-game NLCS went against every expectation. Now, […]

Follow @KTAR923...

West Hunsaker at Morris Hall supports Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona

KTAR's Community Spotlight this month focuses on Morris Hall and its commitment to supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona.

From compensating travelers to the pilot retirement age, Congress takes up aviation bill