A coalition of aviation organizations sent a letter last week calling for the U.S. Senate to move forward as soon as possible on an FAA Reauthorization bill and confirming the next FAA Administrator. FAA reauthorization legislation was introduced in both the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives last June. A bill was passed by House the following month, but companion legislation has not yet made it through the Senate. The FAA’s current authorization set to expire on Sept. 30.
On the leadership side, Michael Whitaker was officially nominated for the position of FAA Administrator on Sept. 7. He is currently awaiting confirmation by the Senate. The agency has been without a Senate-confirmed Administrator since March 2022.
“This is a critical and transformative time for the aviation industry,” the organizations wrote in the letter (PDF). “To keep pace, the FAA needs permanent leadership and clear direction. … A completed FAA Reauthorization bill and a confirmed Administrator in 2023 will contribute in a substantial fashion to strengthening the agency’s efforts in advancing safety, efficiency, infrastructure, and innovation, supporting the FAA’s workforce, and enhancing the jobs and global competitiveness of the U.S. aviation industry.”
Sent on Sept. 13, the letter was signed by 28 organizations including the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). It was addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Ranking Member Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
If our elected officials can run the country at 80+ years old, then its time to raise the retirement age to 67.
The people who want to raise the retirement age are the same people who won’t hire people over 50
Based on????? Nothing?
Our elected officials at 80+ years old are doing a horrible job of running this country. Mostly running it into the ground!
With salaries eating the greatest percentage, I say again, the greatest part of the budget in the FAA, it probably would not behoove us to extend the retirement age. With so much money spent in salaries it is impossible to update and field modernized equipment and procedures. The money we add to the budget is eaten by salaries. A serious delve into cutting overhead and management in the FAA should be undertaken. At any large commercial airport you have spent over 1 million dollars plus in annual salary for support personnel and management before you have even gone into the ATCT operations or TRACON or ARTCC control room. How man major airports, once referred to as OEM airports? Now add the Air Traffic Controller salaries and the salaries of Technical Operations technicians? Wow!
I noticed USPA is not among the alphabet groups pushing for FAA authorization bill to be passed. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it!
Fella’s we still have some useful load in this bill…. get her to max take-off weight. Another shovel of pork until approval please.
Probably room for billions more $$$ being sent to Ukraine while no one really knows how the $$$ are spent.
You probably don’t want to go there, “mco sob”. Look up “false dichotomy”. Besides, the “more $$$ is being spent on ____” is an ox-goring argument, and we (GA) are a pretty small group with a rather puny ox in this fight.