Congressman Cohen Seeks to Ensure Compliance with FAA Reauthorization Act in Hearing on its Implementation

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), the Ranking Member of the Aviation Subcommittee, today extolled the bipartisan leadership of the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee that led to overwhelming support of this year’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act.  Congressman Cohen emphasized the importance of ensuring that the provisions of the law, signed six months ago, are fully implemented as Congress intended. He highlighted specific measures he championed, including the EVAC Act, dealing with evacuation standards, the Prioritizing Accountability and Accessibility for Aviation Consumers Act, dealing with complaints filed by passengers with disabilities, and the SAFE Act, dealing with regulations related to flight data recovery for aircraft used in extended overwater operations.

In his opening statement, Congressman Cohen said in part:

“While the 118^th Congress is on track to become one of the least productive in U.S. history, that is not the case in this Committee, where earlier this year we passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan, long-term FAA reauthorization bill. It has now been over six months since FAA reauthorization was signed into law, so it is time to ensure the law is being expeditiously implemented.

“The bill aimed to address numerous challenges facing our aviation system. These include the modernization of safety and technology infrastructure, the integration of new entrants into U.S. skies, the shortage of air traffic controllers, and the poor treatment of airline passengers, especially passengers with disabilities.”

See Congressman Cohen’s entire opening statement here.

In his questions to witnesses, Congressman Cohen focused on some of the provisions of the new law that he championed that would require realistic tests of whether aircraft can meet the 90-second evacuation standard, the treatment of passengers with disabilities and their mobility aids, and efforts to strengthen the aviation workforce, including hiring more air traffic controllers.

See Congressman Cohen’s line of questioning here.

Witnesses at today’s hearing were:

• Mr. Jason Terreri, Executive Director, Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, on behalf of the Airports Council International - North America (ACI-NA);
• Mr. Adam Woodworth, Chief Executive Officer, Wing;
• Mr. Pete Bunce, President & Chief Executive Officer, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA); and 
• Mr. Greg Regan, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD)

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