FAA Extension Targets Number of Safety, Security Issues

President Obama’s signature of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 on July 15 ensured the continuity of the FAA’s operations through Sept. 30, 2017. But it also set in motion a number of safety, security and other measures that have received far less attention.

The underlying purpose of the bill was to ensure the FAA’s operating authority did not expire on July 15. The short-term bill, however, provided a venue to address pressing safety and security measures, the authors of the bill maintain. In fact, Senate Commerce Committee chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) has called the bill “the most significant airport security reform bill in over a decade,” and said the reforms “will help ensure that attacks like those in Brussels and Istanbul do not happen in American airports.”

These reforms include mandating security assessments for overseas airports; facilitating an increase of training and screening for overseas airports; expanding TSA PreCheck; “optimizing” TSA personnel staffing allocations; tightening access for aviation workers in sterile areas of airports and seeking a comprehensive strategy on cyber security. Some security measures, such as background checks for maintenance workers, are drawing concern from the repair station community.

The bill has a number of provisions of note to general aviation interests, such as the third-class aeromedical reform trumpeted by AOPA and the Experimental Aircraft Association. But it also calls for marking certain towers so they are more visible to low-flying aircraft, and it calls on the FAA to update standards for crash-resistant helicopter fuel systems.

Others are aimed at safety or stem from past accidents. The measures seek to expedite completion of a pilot records database, streamline the controller hiring process, strengthen mental health screening for pilots, step up monitoring of laser pointer incidents and ensure pilots are sufficiently trained on manual flying skills and monitoring cockpit automation systems.

Unmanned aircraft systems again were the subject of a number of measures, which call for better interagency cooperation on their use during an emergency and seek to ensure that they don’t interfere with other emergency response activities. The bill establishes processes for monitoring and mitigating unauthorized UAS operation around airports and critical infrastructure.

And one measure pulls flight attendants into the law enforcement realm, calling for training so they can recognize and respond to potential victims of human trafficking.

While the bill was designed to address a number of measures, lawmakers carefully left out others that they said would be picked up in a more comprehensive bill, such as certification and regulatory reform. This provides an important chip that would increase the urgency for passing a more comprehensive bill. Also left out is the proposal to create a user funded, independent air traffic control organization. Many expect debate surrounding that proposal to renew once talks on a longer-term bill restart.

In a recent message to members, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen reminded, “The FAA reauthorization debate is far from over, and much work remains. First and foremost, we must remain fit for the fight on ATC privatization, when it reemerges. Those supporting privatization proposals will continue to push their agenda.”