Good things come to those who wait, they say, and the impending renewal of the Federal Aviation Administration's budget and authority are bringing some good things to those who have been waiting while U.S. Senate and House negotiators have finally come to agreement.
Among the goodies buried in the bill are some consumer protections, action to help relieve the air traffic control crisis and safety improvements. Sadly, however, still no minimum seat width or pitch requirements.
Here are some of the items included
- The Department of Transportation is mandated to create an online dashboard that shows consumers the minimum seat sizes for each airline and aircraft
- FAA is directed and budgeted to improve hiring standards to get more inspectors, engineers and controllers; the system is short by 3000 contollers, leading to frequent delays and making near misses more likely
- Five-year reauthorization of the National Transportation Safety Board
- Cockpit recorders will now be required to hold 25 hours of data rather than 5
- Maximum fines for airlines that violate consumer protection rules will rise from $25,000 per incident to $75,000
One item dropped from the bill was a proposal to ease pilot shortages by raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots from 65 to 67. It was dropped to keep the U.S. in line with standards in other countries.
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