▶ 0:03:31This hearing will come to order. It's 10:00 and as per our disciplined approach, we like to start things on time around here. I know that runs a bit counter to some of the other activities of the Congress, but uh here today. We welcome testimony from Chris Roshelo, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
▶ 0:03:58Administrator Roshelo, thank you for joining us today as we review the FAA's budget request for the coming fiscal year. We've seen air travel rebound since the pandemic with passenger numbers now consistently exceeding preandemic levels across our aviation system. Aviation remains a critical driver of economic growth.
▶ 0:04:21Commercial aviation contributes more than a trillion dollars to our economy and new technologies promise to deliver more opportunities while improving the quality of life for all Americans. I am particularly excited to see how advancements in the aviation sector provide more opportunities in areas of high growth like the district that I represent in Northwest Arkansas.
▶ 0:04:45However, rapid growth brings challenges and we've seen that very uh subject in the last few months. We must acknowledge the recent aviation accidents that have renewed scrutiny of our safety systems. The tragic crash that occurred on January 29th at Reagan National is still fresh on our minds. A sobering reminder, the real life consequences when multiple parts of our national airspace system falter.
▶ 0:05:11Incidents like this along with the Alaska Airlines door plug failure, multiple near misses in the air and on the ground, and a slew of general aviation accidents make it clear that our work to strengthen oversight, training, and coordination is far from finished. Safety must remain our shared priority. Our airspace is becoming more crowded and more complex. The infrastructure we rely on is reaching the end of its useful life.
▶ 0:05:41This committee must take a hard look at how we fund the maintenance and replacement of infrastructure and equipment that create the backbone of our aviation We must work together to ensure that all aviation can flourish while maintaining the highest possible standards of safety and efficiency for the millions of passengers who fly every day. Your extensive aviation experience will be vital as we navigate these issues together.
▶ 0:06:08I know a safe and efficient national airspace system is your number one priority. It is also ours. The president's request for FAA is 22 billion, a 5% increase above the enacted 25 level, with much of the increase going toward operation and facilities and equipment, including your new project Lyft, which I'm sure you will tell us about in your testimony.
▶ 0:06:35However, this budget doesn't contemplate the scale of improvements Secretary Duffy has announced that are necessary. More detail and information will be required for us to fully consider this eventual request. We cannot repeat the nextgen boondoggle where we allowed a program to drag on for decades while technology outpaced its implementation.
▶ 0:06:58If this committee is asked to consider additional funding with the expectation the FAA can complete procurement or deployment through innovative contracts, the FAA must do better than it did under IGA. From that bill, $2.5 billion for facilities and equipment remains unobligated. Mr. Mr.
▶ 0:07:18Roshelo, as we develop our 26 bill, I intend to work with you, your colleagues at FAA and Secretary Duffy along with the aviation community to ensure that we continue to support the safest, most complex aviation system in the world. Mr. Administrator, I look forward to our discussion today and hearing from you about the FAA's current and pending work. We want to know how you plan to modernize the air traffic system, address staffing challenges, and encourage safety advancements and innovation.
▶ 0:07:47and I'm confident that we can work together to support the critical missions of the Federal Administration. Now, I'd like to recognize my good friend and the ranking member from South Carolina, Mr. Klyber for his opening remarks. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and welcome acting Roilla. I want to thank you for your service as you assume leadership of the FAA under very difficult circumstances.
▶ 0:08:15The purpose of today's hearing is to examine how the FAA is using its current resources and the proposed fiscal year 2026 funding to advance aviation safety. As Chair Wulmarmac uh just mentioned, last month we had an opportunity to discuss with Secretary Duffy some of the administration's proposed investments to modernize air traffic control system.
▶ 0:08:42The discussion centered around the air traffic control modernization plan released last month by this administration. While the plan is a great conversation starter, it ignores the realities uh of cuts to FFA's staff, fair competition, overall costs, and importantly, how we pay for it.
▶ 0:09:06The FAA's 2026 budget request provides nominal increases to backfield our air traffic controller workforce and sustain FAA's aging facilities and technology all of which I support.
▶ 0:09:22While there are proposed resources set aside for modernizing the FAA, I am concerned that they come at the expense of advancing FAA's aviation safety research, engineering, and development programs, which are essential investments to determine the best modernization and safety solutions for the national airspace system.
▶ 0:09:50And though the 2026 budget request proposes hiring up to 2500 new air traffic controllers, it does not consider challenges with academy success or retention rates and early retirements among our existing controllers workforce.
▶ 0:10:10Meanwhile, with the constant shifts in tariffs, America is losing the confidence of our partners to deliver and improved air traffic control system and cost effective aviation manufacturing. American businesses, including manufacturers and suppliers, face uncertainty and increased costs as they are left in the dark.
▶ 0:10:36Thousands of jobs, many in high skill manufacturing and engineering, depend on the ability of United States aircraft manufacturers and suppliers to access global markets on fair and reliable terms. This is especially true for manufacturing in my uh own district and home state of South Carolina.
▶ 0:11:03Our aviation supply chair system requires certainty from our global partners and the trust that we can deliver state-of-the-art transportation and airports. Mr. Secretary, I strongly support robust investments in aviation, but we need to know that the administration's supplemental air traffic control plan and budget requests is backed by action and based on current realities.
▶ 0:11:34I remain concerned that we have yet to see the full potential of existing FAA resources being used to address our most immediate threats brought forward by Asian technology and staffing shelf falls at the FAA. Mr.
▶ 0:11:51Chairman, it is our duty on this subcommittee to continue helping the FAA modernize its air traffic control system and in a year where we need to see more robust investments in FAA, my hope is that it does not come at the expense of strengthening safety for other modes of transportation or keeping our seniors and working families housed.
▶ 0:12:18I look forward to learning more about how we can work together to support uh the advancement of the FAA. I look forward to hearing your testimony and yield the balance of my time. And I hear back. Thank you, Mr. Klyber.
▶ 0:12:32We are joined today uh by the overall chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, my good friend Tom Cole, even though he's still writhing a little bit in pain from a pair of very difficult losses by the Oklahoma Sooners this weekend in baseball and softball. Though your gymnastics program is still world class and uh Thunder looks pretty good, too. And thunder is not bad. Yeah. So, uh but uh thank you, Mr. Chairman, for joining us today. and I'll recognize you for any opening comments you have.
▶ 0:13:02Well, thank you. And since you brought up an unrelated matter, I just want to explain those two untimely losses by our U women. We had won the World Series four consecutive times. Of course, it's uh hosted in Oklahoma City. And so, we got the team together and said, you know, if we win every year, they're just going to quit coming. So maybe we need to lighten up, let somebody else slip through once and then you young ladies because it's a pretty new team. Six new starters out of nine.
▶ 0:13:30We graduated a class that had won the championship every single year they were in college. But so you know we're going to let Texas Tech or Texas enjoy one and then they'll come back and we'll start all over again. So but thank you for awfully proud of those young women. They are amazing. Um first thank you Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. Chairman Wulmarmac and thank you ranking member Klyber.
▶ 0:13:54Welcome administrator uh Roshaloo and thank you for coming for us today and honestly for your decades of public service in uniform and uh you know as a career civil servant as well. We we appreciate and in the private sector but you've been around aviation for a long time done a lot of great things for our country and I think you were a superb appointment. Um as we start the fiscal year Mr. Administrator, I'm focused on providing effective fiscal support uh to the FAA.
▶ 0:14:21And we know you need resources to ensure the safety of our national airspace, support American manufacturers and innovators, and invest in infrastructure that improves the efficiency and reliability of our aviation system. This subcommittee will support your efforts as we develop our fiscal year 2026 budget. This will include addressing some of our aging air traffic infrastructure. It's no longer sustainable in its current form and could become an operational risk.
▶ 0:14:49I'll reiterate what Chairman Wulmarmac stated earlier. Our commitment to safety and security will be steadfast and unified. We will begin to do this within the confines of the president's budget while we wait to receive your broader air traffic control proposal. Now, as you know, air traffic infrastructure isn't the only challenging aspect of our national airspace system.
▶ 0:15:12Personnel levels are also a systemic concern, and in particular, the men and women who control our skies that are trained at the Soul FAA Academy located in Oklahoma City. The training provided in Oklahoma City is unmatched and I appreciated having the opportunity to speak with you several weeks ago about your efforts to improve the completion rate of the talented students who attend the academy.
▶ 0:15:36As we discussed, the academy must be successful and to be successful, it must be properly resourced with the latest technology and the best instructors. In FY24, while I was privileged to be the chairman of this subcommittee, I worked to ensure the academy received a significant increase for air traffic and technical operations training enhancements to uh uh strengthen throughout the air traffic control system for our trainees.
▶ 0:16:03This committee also ensured that in our final FY25 appropriation, we provided funding to train an additional 2,000 air traffic controllers. And I understand your budget request for FY26 contemplates pushing that number potentially to as high as 2500.
▶ 0:16:20As we advance the FY26 appropriation, I look forward to working with you and the the administration and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to fund critical safety missions and transportation infrastructure needs for the country. With that, let me just add uh this is a genuinely bipartisan subcommittee. Uh, and all of us are in the skies together. We all have friends and family that are flying. We we all are concerned about rail safety. We're concerned about road safety.
▶ 0:16:50Uh, and so I don't find much partisan division here. It's really more about figuring out, as Mr. Klyurn said, ranking member u what's the right thing to do here? What what are the investments we should be making? And for that, we're going to rely very heavily on your judgment, your recommendations, and one way or another, we're going to make the investments that we need to make. Again, I don't like to look at what we did in 24 and 25 as a kind of one hit wonders.
▶ 0:17:17They need to be a a sustained process of investment improvement that's going to stretch over a number of years. And uh couldn't be prouder of the members of this subcommittee on both sides of the aisle because I know they've got that kind of commitment. I've worked with a lot of them in different capacities before. So, I think we have the opportunity in this subcommittee to do something really significant to improve uh the lives of the American people and the safety of the American people. And I think it's something we can do in a bipartisan fashion.
▶ 0:17:44So, we look forward to your leadership and your cooperation and helping our committee get to where it needs to go. With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back. Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman, and, uh, I associate myself with with your remarks. It is a shared responsibility and and we have a lot of work to do to ensure the safety of the flying public. Uh Mr. Oshelo, uh your full written testimony will be inserted into the record.
▶ 0:18:10Uh the chair will now recognize you for your opening comments before we move to questions and answers. Thank you, sir. Chairman Cole, Chairman WAC, Ranking Member Clurn, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the administration's fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Federal Aviation Administration.
▶ 0:18:35The FAA's mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. To fill this ongoing responsibility, the president's budget invests in the future of the National Airspace System, or as we refer to it, the NAS by requesting $22 billion in the 2026 fiscal year.
▶ 0:18:56When coupled with the $5 billion in previously enacted advanced annual appropriations, this $27 billion commitment will enable the FA to fund critical investments needed to keep pace with industry and enhance the safety and efficiency of our national airspace As part of the administration's broader modernization effort to build a state-of-the-art air traffic control system, the FAA is requesting a historic $4 billion
▶ 0:19:27for our facilities and equipment account to enable the agency to address emerging challenges and technological advancements while preserving the integrity of longstanding The president's budget includes $1 billion request to accelerate the modernization of the FA's telecommunications infrastructure.
▶ 0:19:48The current infrastructure is dependent on outdated technology which is facing discontinuence from service providers and serves as a significant operational risk to NAS services. The agency has pivoted to a new initiative to transition rapidly and safely to from point-to-point hardware circuits into a modern internet protocol-based telecommunications network.
▶ 0:20:15This new initiative spearheaded by Secretary Duffy under President Trump's leadership will ensure longstanding stability and the operational efficiency needed to both support existing operations, future needs, and to meet ever evolving cyber security and resiliency requirements.
▶ 0:20:36The president's budget also requests $450 million to initiate the radar replacement program, a multi-year effort to replace the FA's aging radar systems. Now, the FAA owns and operates hundreds of radar systems that are essential detection and monitoring tools for air traffic controllers.
▶ 0:20:56These critical systems are facing more frequent structural deficiencies and maintenance related issues as they get older, causing increased outages, delays, and risks to the system. The radar replacement program will invest in more advanced radar technology to enhance surveillance capabilities and avoid delays for the flying public.
▶ 0:21:19Now, the FAA is in the midst of a multi-year hiring and training surge to ensure we have the level of certified air traffic controllers needed to meet current and future traffic demands. In February, Secretary Duffy announced our plan to increase recruitment of the best and the brightest air traffic controllers by streamlining the hiring steps and increasing the starting salary for academy trainees by 30%.
▶ 0:21:45This budget request includes $97.3 million to further supercharge the controller workforce and train up to 2,500 new air traffic controllers in To achieve this goal, the FA is filling every seat at the academy, bolstering the enhanced air traffic collegiate training initiative, and offering more opportunities for experienced military controllers to join our workforce.
▶ 0:22:14By addressing the ongoing air traffic controller shortage through this multi-pronged approach, the FAA is working to improve staffing levels and increase the safety of the NAS. Members of the committee, every day the FAA manages more than 45,000 flights that connect almost 20,000 US airports, and I appreciate the president and the secretary's strong support as I proudly lead the dedicated men and women of the FAA.
▶ 0:22:41This budget request upholds our commitment to maintain the safest airspace in the world by investing in our nation's infrastructure and our workforce to meet the challenges of tomorrow. We look forward to your support in ensuring the United States remains a global leader in aviation. I thank you for the opportunity to be here today and I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much.
▶ 0:23:05As I said, your full written testimony will be included into the record and uh we will now begin a period of questions and answers. We will again enforce a fiveminute rule here. So members are to get as quickly to your questions as you possibly can so that you can maximize the amount of time we have available. I'm going to recognize myself uh for for five minutes.
▶ 0:23:30The House and Senate provided about $3.6 billion in our FY25 bills. They never got across the finish line. So the CR that we're currently under froze this level at 3.2 I I think uh another reason why we should not be living on continuing resolutions, we lose ground.
▶ 0:23:54I have a about sustainability versus and unfortunately you can't do one uh exclusively. Uh we Secretary Duffy's outlined his plans for modernization But you still have to operate a system that you currently have. How does that work?
▶ 0:24:22And how difficult will it be for us to achieve the overall goals of modernization while at the same time providing the sustainable safety systems that we currently have in place and and and how how the FAA is best equipped to do that. Thank you sir for the question. So um our budget request in fact incorporates the needs to continue to sustain what we have in place today.
▶ 0:24:52But clearly we've seen uh evidence where the equipment today is is as I stated in my uh testimony starting to degrade in our operability in our ability to operate the system and we see outages and delays associated with that equipment. I'm confident in our ability to maintain the system.
▶ 0:25:15In fact, I would just share with you all that we had a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend with respect to our ability to manage safely the operations in the National Airspace System. And at the same time, it is imperative that we invest in the future of our air traffic system for we're spending over 90% of our funding right now just on maintaining sometimes bandating some of the equipment that we have.
▶ 0:25:40And so the secretary's bold vision this under obviously the uh the president's um direction is to make sure that we're able to build a new air traffic system to put in place to manage what we're dealing with today and the increase in traffic safely and at the same time anticipate the needs we need going forward as we think about things like drone integration, advanced mobility and the like.
▶ 0:26:05And so the budget that we're proposing today in fact sustains the operations that we have and at the same time um enables our success in the future as we think about the new systems that we need to come online. So you mentioned the $4 billion that's in the request for facilities and equipment. How much of that is strictly sustainability versus how much of that is actually going to go toward the overall cost associated with full modernization.
▶ 0:26:35So, uh, under and you referenced earlier the project live, $1 billion of our request is going to go directly to advancing in an expedited fashion that transition from what we call copper wire or TDM to an internetbased and IP or fiber optic uh, transition that will enable the resiliency, the efficiency of the system and the ability to make sure that as we increase operations that we'll be able to do that in a consistent manner without the outages.
▶ 0:27:05and the and the struggles that we've been facing as as we've seen in the news just recently given your time at the FAA going all the way back to nearly the turn of the millennium when we started this nextgen project and and we've spent billions of dollars on nextg how would you grade and you heard in my testimony or my in my opening remarks about the fact that we got bogged down and the speed of technology was not matching the the speed of our ability to to
▶ 0:27:36improve. How how would you grade if you were giving a letter grade to the NextG project? How how would you grade it? And how much of that $14 billion that we spent on NextG um was u could have been better spent. Put it that way. I I would certainly agree with the with that premise that um it could have been better spent.
▶ 0:28:00As I think about the advancements and today we do have systems in place that nextgen generated with respect to things like dataccom which is texting between the pilots the controllers and the pilots. So some of those capabilities on came online. At the same time let's recognize that um for a variety of reasons that was not that vision was not fully realized which is why I I pivot to what we're trying to do now with this new and bold plan.
▶ 0:28:27When we think about the future, when we think about what we're sustaining today and where we need to go with respect to new technologies, safety technologies and efficiency technologies, this is what we're looking for as we think about this new air traffic modernization plan. You didn't give it a letter grade, but can I assume that you're not advocating that it be on the honor role? Yes, sir. I I can agree to that. Fair fair enough, Mr. Clber. Thank you very much, Mr.
▶ 0:29:05relatively small state. Uh but in my congressional district, you're going to find uh show air force base, headquarters of the ninth army or the ninth air force and headquarters of the third army. Um military, we have the uh marine air um the Columbia airport, the Charleston International Airport, all of those air traffic controllers have been in to visit with me uh about
▶ 0:29:36the challenges that they have trying to maintain uh safety uh with the way things are um organized or being implemented. and they're really concerned about the shortages, the resignations, the uh problem we have getting trained to have traffic controllers uh up to snuff.
▶ 0:30:06Uh how do you plan to do more with less? Well, I I would start by saying I believe the FA can be a more efficient organization. I think that is that is the charge to me by the secretary and I believe we can accomplish that goal. We have an amazing amazing workforce that comes to work every day. As I mentioned during the Memorial Day holiday is one example of that.
▶ 0:30:34But I think to the to the center of your question, what we're talking about is the ability to continue to sustain what we have today and at the same time accelerate whether it's on the controller workforce. And by the way, it's not just the controller workforce. We are also talking about maintainers, safety inspectors, engineers, all of the people that go into our ecosystem to make sure there's a safe and efficient air transportation system.
▶ 0:30:59And and while we're looking at the workforce piece of it, we're also looking at modernizing the equipment that is so essential to what your constituents are talking about with respect to safe and efficient airspace in the system. So, I think we're we're approaching it from multi-pronged approach. Part of that has to do with the this the workforce and again supercharging the controllers is so critical to our ability to manage traffic we have today and look at what we uh expect to see in the future.
▶ 0:31:28Well, uh, looking at, uh, your plan, I'm still trying to figure out, uh, the budget numbers, uh, and the amount of money being requested to do this seem not to line up uh, with the amount of work that you've got to do, especially uh, in keeping with all of the uh, all the lack of numbers coming in to the system and
▶ 0:31:58I have not seen what I consider to be a definitive plan on how you going to increase uh the number of air traffic controllers. I forgot the number uh some ungodly number of in terms of the shortages that we currently have. Yes sir. So um so this year we are projecting to meet 2,000 air traffic controllers through our system. Um, just a few months ago, we realized we may not hit that.
▶ 0:32:26Thanks to the secretary and his leadership, we have supercharged that. So, we will get 2,000 people into the training academy, which by the way, uh, Chairman Cole, is a gem for us when we think about what we're talking about there in Oklahoma City and the ability to put controllers through that system.
▶ 0:32:44Um as it relates to the the technology plan again the the billion dollars is to make sure that we have that resiliency in the fiber optics to so that there is good connectivity between the facilities themselves and then the additional monies would go to in fact accelerating the uh radar replacement program. So that is the fundamental when we talk about the larger plan that um the secretary so artfully outlines.
▶ 0:33:08Uh that is where I think we're going to it's going to be critical that we work with Congress on to understand to to lay out our plan. So going from U TDM to IP so copper wires to fiber optics when we think about going to uh new radar replacements, new radios for the controllers so they can talk to the pilots and then of course facilities. All of those things are going to go into kind of this approach to modernize the airspace system. Well, thank you.
▶ 0:33:35My time is almost expired, but I would like to know at some point, Mr. Chairman, whether or not we plan to utilize those colleges and universities uh to supplement that, which I know is great training out of Oklahoma City. Uh however, in terms of numbers, uh the volume we need, I think we ought to take a look at the scholars and universities. Yes, sir. I thank the ranking member. I now recognize the chairman of the overall committee of the appropriations committee, Mr. Cole from Oklahoma.
▶ 0:34:05Thank you very much, Mr. chairman and uh probably shouldn't say this before I get into my questions in front of somebody as shrewd as my friend the ranking member but when I think ahead about uh that will come if we're going to have avoid a CR and get to a successful conclusion I always look where the where are the things in common that the two sides can set aside differences on and come around I think this is one of those things absolutely we're all very interested in what it takes to
▶ 0:34:36to fly safely. It's important commercially. It's much more important obviously in terms of lives. So, you know, I would just advise you and and by our our former colleague uh to be ready to take advantage of that opportunity down the road. I mean, I I think that this is one where we will work together and try and and make a significant investment to move us materially toward the goals that you've outlined.
▶ 0:35:00Your budget u proposal increases facilities and equipment account in order to upgrade the system for air traffic facilities. Does your request include improvements at the academy to ensure that the students are actually training on the equipment that you uh intend for them to be using in the years ahead? Yes sir, it does.
▶ 0:35:20In in fact um as as we talked about recently our our effort to supercharge uh the hiring through with through the academy with controllers uh what we've been able to do and and again giving credit to the secretary for for um accelerating and and encouraging us to to work hard. We didn't think we were going to hit the two the 2,000 controllers this year.
▶ 0:35:46So um we've we've shortened the time frame by which we hire those controllers uh academy attendees through the system by 5 months. In fact I would just as a quick story we went through the as we look for the best and brightest we had an individual recently that in 44 days from start to finish got into the to the academy got an academy date. So that that system is really working. Now that's not going to be the case for everyone but that is encouraging there.
▶ 0:36:13So, the budget request we have does in fact accommodate uh and and consider what we want to do with respect to getting up to 2500 people through the Oklahoma City Academy this year in addition to the enhanced CTI trainings that we're doing with the universities around the the US. Well, I think that's terrific.
▶ 0:36:32And uh uh just toward that goal of reaching 2500 when you and I had our visit we also talked about the failure rate because we lose about a third of those students uh over the course of this and you know in some ways you expect that it's pretty rigorous very demanding profession what might look attractive at the beginning as you get into it may not be uh your cup of tea as you you really understand how difficult and challenging this job is.
▶ 0:36:59But having said that, I'm curious about number one uh as you stairst step up uh anything additional you need and again I'm like you. I commend the secretary for uh increasing that pay and making this a more attractive option for the kind of people we want coming there. But what are you thinking about doing in addition to help those students that are there so that we have a higher success rate and don't lose them? Thank you for the question.
▶ 0:37:26So as part of this initiative um I would I would highlight two efforts that that we put in there. First and foremost is as we think about the training itself and the first roughly five weeks of training there's a basic course. So it's what we'll call air traffic 101 that we do not need certified professional controllers to teach. And so therefore we have the ability to bring in professional instructors to help that. So we're augmenting the instructor workforce there at the academy first and foremost.
▶ 0:37:55and we think that will be helpful to um for the evaluation period as people get closer to uh graduation there. In addition to that, one of the things that the secretary had heard when in his recent or his visit back in February, I believe it was to Oklahoma was in fact some of the the students were looking for a little extra time on the weekend for training.
▶ 0:38:15And so we are now offering tutoring on the weekend with the use of highdefinition simulators which actually is going to improve probably up to 30% of the graduation rate because at the end of the day we we to get the throughput to get the controllers to the boards we need. We want to make sure that that that um failure rate of 35% roughly these days because it is an incredibly demanding profession that we get that down to say the 25% maybe even lower than that.
▶ 0:38:43So those two initiatives alone, we're trying to make sure that we get a better throughput and a a better graduation rate. That's great. Well, my time's almost up and I certainly respect the chairman on that. Just one, it's not a question. Uh but I'm sure you're thinking given the fact we want that you're going to increase as you implied you are the number of instructors because we're going to move it up. You got to have more people on the ground. You're comfortable you can do that and that's basically a yes or no. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:39:12I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma and not to belabor the point necessarily on air traffic control, but it's one thing to get a certified air traffic controller, but it's a whole another thing to certify them or to prepare them for whatever assignment they're going to. And that could be uh a pretty lengthy process as well. Is that correct? That's correct, sir. It can take anywhere from two to three years to get a certified professional controller through the system and qualified on on at the facility they're going to be working at. Mr. Torres.
▶ 0:39:48thank you, chairman. Um, and thank you, uh, for being here. Also, um, as I mentioned to Secretary Duffy a few weeks ago, uh, we are seeing a troubling rise in near misses, including navigation systems shutting down themselves, uh, while a plane is attempting to land. These are serious uh close calls that could have ended in terrible disasters. These aren't isolated incidents.
▶ 0:40:17Uh they signal a deeper issue with the FAA's ability to provide the strong consistent safety oversight um that our aviation systems uh demands. Pilots today are operating in increasingly complex conditions um where even small breakdowns, mechanical issues, miscommunication, ground movement risks can easily escalate um a situation.
▶ 0:40:46It's a lot of stress for them. Uh that is why we need an FAA that is fully staffed, well supported, and fully focused on its mission that is protecting lives. I assume that continues to be its number one mission. Um, acting administrator, you recently said in a town hall that the FAA will be leaner and that statement in the current environment is a little bit alarming.
▶ 0:41:12A leaner FAA raises real concerns about the capacity and readiness. uh you took some responsibility for what was missed in the recent uh DCA incident saying I take that seriously and I take that on myself. I returned to the AFAA just two months two months ago and I care about the national airspace system for safety and the work uh force.
▶ 0:41:40I sent you my questions in advance so that there would be uh no um concerns or mistakes. Um, what immediate steps is the FAA taking to reduce near misses and protect safety on the ground and in the air? Thank you for the question. Uh, yes, first and foremost, let me just start by saying the system is incredibly safe and that matters to me personally.
▶ 0:42:07It matters to my leadership team that I meet with on a weekly basis and it matters to the 45,000 people that come to work every day for the FAA as it relates specifically to what we were doing now as a result of the tragic crash of uh American Airlines 5342.
▶ 0:42:24Um, a few months ago, we initiated a very aggressive um, effort to look across the nation for what we referred to in internally as hotspots at at 20 locations around the nation to ensure that we were picking up on the data that we may have missed previously. We use new tools like AI and machine learning. Safety incidents are haven't stopped.
▶ 0:42:47So what can we aggressively change today, yesterday, tomorrow to stop these incidents, these these near misses? I'll give you three quick examples. First and foremost, uh Las Vegas, Nevada, we identified early on that um the the vertical and lateral boundaries for helicopters in fixed swing were not where they needed to be. and traffic advisories.
▶ 0:43:13So, calling out controllers to pilots to telling them about helicopters in the area. That was something we did immediately when we identified those issues. In the LA basin, we're looking at um the mix of traffic there between helicopters and a fixed wing in some of the um more dense air traffic areas there. And then finally in Alaska where weather uh is so important to the people in Alaska and we're bring we're testing new technologies to bring additional satellite weather into that area as too.
▶ 0:43:42Have you raised these concerns with the secretary? I I talked to the secretary reg regularly and he has impressed upon specifically on on these uh issues that you identified. Yes. Yes, we have. Okay. Um, so how is the FAA reassuring our pilots and our crews and passengers that every aircraft is held to the highest uh safety standard? Uh, and I really appreciate because uh in addition to what we call this hotspots review, we actually had a series of engagements with the community.
▶ 0:44:12So the first one was general aviation, business aviation. Then we moved to the um helicopter community. Then we moved to ramp workers to make sure the airport safety on the ground was well done. And then we just finished recently with the um airlines themselves. So we've engaged directly with uh the operators within the system. I'm very concerned about the software uh mechanics, engineers, whatever we want to call them. Um the people that are working on the system that was, you know, launched in the 1970s.
▶ 0:44:43You can't bring in a modern worker to replace that worker. And I think I'm out of time. So you and I will continue this conversation in the next um opportunity and I happy to thank you Mr. Strong. Thank you Chairman WAC and ranking member Klyber for holding this hearing today. I'd also like to thank the subcommittee staff for their hard work. It does not go unnoticed. Uh Mr. Rushlo, thank you for being here today.
▶ 0:45:11My district in North Alabama is home to Huntsville International Airport. I'm proud to say Huntsville has been named the best small airport in the country for the second consecutive year. Airports can find it difficult to plan long-term infrastructure projects when they don't have clarity on funding timelines or FAA approvals. Mr.
▶ 0:45:31Administrator, has the FAA considered establishing response uh deadlines for project approvals, allowing them to move forward if no determination is issued within a set time frame? So yes, sir. I I know by law and and let me just say been to Huntsville a number of times both in the Air Force and uh within the FAA and it's it's amazing how uh Huntsville's grown.
▶ 0:45:55With respect to timeline specifically, I know that reauthorization requires uh that deadline to be 45 days. In addition to that, we have the NEPA requirements which is a year for um an environmental assessment and then two years for the uh EIS. So the environmental impact statement and we work closely to that um with within the airports division. Thank you. I serve on as the co-chair of the Army Aviation Caucus alongside ranking member Delaro.
▶ 0:46:23I would like to express my deepest sympathies for those impacted by the horrific collision at DCA on January the 29th. In the aftermath, uh, the Army's use of automatic, uh, dependent surveillance broadcast, uh, affectionately known as ADSB, transponders, and information communicated to the DCA air traffic control, uh, control, has come under focus.
▶ 0:46:46Reports uh, from more recent close calls from uh, have highlighted that even through army aircraft have been transmitting ADSB information and haven't deviated from approved flight pass. Air traffic control uh has issued goarounds to commercial airliners because they have been unsure of the helicopter's position. Uh Mr.
▶ 0:47:08Administrator, does air traffic control utilize ADSB data for deconliction uh of aircrafts at DCA? If so, is it the sole means of uh tracking aircraft or does it use uh a mix of different systems? Yes, sir. We use a mix of systems. We we in fact use ADSB. We also use radar and we use visual separation as well as appropriate.
▶ 0:47:34Does using the mixed systems does this uh uh create an ability um or degrade ATC's ability to ascertain an aircraft's position? I think the multiple systems offer the controllers the ability to manage the the the airspace as efficiently but safely as possible.
▶ 0:47:54Despite previous actions to increase funding for the FAA's Office of Commercial uh space transportation, the industry still faces long delays in lic licensing for launch and re-entry. What is the FAA strategy to streamline licensing while maintaining public safety? Are there any spec specific tools or systems the FAA is investing in to ensure regulations don't ground our space industry?
▶ 0:48:20So, I'm very excited about the commercial space industry and it's certainly one of the areas that I've been focused on um in coming back to the agency. We did 142 launches last year. We're expecting close to 200 this year and it's it's it's uh it's it's really an exciting time to be with regard to what we're using to streamline. So, um we recently issued a part four or 50 and we are working with the with the uh space operators to to better understand how we can do that more efficiently going forward.
▶ 0:48:49And with respect to airspace, we use what we call the space data integrator. So our air traffic people work very closely with the launch operations to make sure that we can minimize the time that we need to open the airspace for the launches so that we can have smooth transitions between commercial airlines and commercial space What steps is the FAA taking to integrate space launches into the national airspace center effectively? I know you've mentioned a couple there. Yes, sir.
▶ 0:49:17So the space data integrator um that's located out at the uh FA's command center uh is is really a key element of that because as we see normal air traffic uh operations within the system and we see the increase in u space launch operations themselves, we want to make sure we deconlict first and foremost and second minimize the impact of the traveling public through airlines. Thank you. I know that um Chairman Cole and Chairman WAC mentioned this.
▶ 0:49:45You look at this budget, it is not a budget that is um divided partisan. Four billion for equipment uh account, 1 billion for modern modernization of telecom communication network, radar replacement program, hiring and training, add 2500 new ATC. Uh that's what America is looking for. We want to be sure it's safe. I thank you for your efforts, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Quigley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:50:12administrator, how many total FAA employees have taken the president's early retirement opportunity? How many total employees? So, those numbers are not finalized yet. Um, largely because we're processing through what we call DRP2. So, the so we had our first trunch of people that came through and I believe that was roughly 700 that ex that that um applied for the the DRP and then now we're going through that process for the second one.
▶ 0:50:42So, uh, we'll we'll roll those numbers up as as we go through. I know that I'm in constant contact with my leadership team to understand what the impacts of those. Um, and I would just note that in a number of those cases, we've been able to talk to people who have expressed interest and negotiate their time uh if if they in fact do want to leave. But for air traffic controllers, for example, they've been saying that there have been no cuts to them. But how many have taken early retirement?
▶ 0:51:11So there have absolutely been no cuts and and the and the controllers themselves are not eligible. They're not eligible for early retirement. Uh if anything, what what the secretary and I have done is incentivize the people who are retirement eligible. So if you're if you've done 25 years and you're 51, 52, 53 years old, we're giving those senior controllers that we need right now another 20% increase to their base salary just to stick around for another couple. I just wanted to confirm that because we've heard there have been no cuts to air traffic controllers.
▶ 0:51:42The concern is we have heard that there have been cuts to those uh workers who help specifically some of the critical safety functions that support the frontline Um the dismissal of probationary employees and early retirement by buyout program. We've we're hearing that about 12% of the aeronautical information specialists have left the FA or are poised to leave.
▶ 0:52:07These are uhformational specialists who update charts, maps and key data after disruption dis or disturbances in airspace like um weather or collision. Uh this is accurate we've been told and how do you plan to make up for those losses? So again we have not stopped hiring any safety critical positions any of them but those people are have left or are leaving. So you are lower than where you were.
▶ 0:52:36So there there are people that support the critical safety positions and that is part of the ongoing assessment that I do with my leadership team to make sure that if we have people that have accepted those that we're managing through that to ensure that there's those services to our controllers and our maintenance people and how do you do that you if you've lost 12% of the people who do those critical functions who's doing it in the meantime? Well, there's a few ways. I mean, first and foremost, we're assessing how we're doing that and what what can we do better.
▶ 0:53:05So, for instance, going from a paperbased process to an electronic based process. That's one of them. Making sure that we're hiring for critical safety positions and leveraging the talent that we do have that is staying and making sure that they can both do the critical safety functions as well as those support functions. And respectfully, you call them critical safety functions. Wouldn't it make more sense to have a plan, an assessment of how to replace someone, how to phase them out rather than just do this so dramatically at the start?
▶ 0:53:37I sort of managing your own crisis rather than planning to implement a a uh a program like this. We've been very intentional on how we work through this. uh recognizing that as I mentioned there are some people that may express interest in leaving earlier and we can sit down with them and work through what that timeline looks for so we can plan for what's behind them and I would just say this the people that are leaving while we will miss them because they have been amazing public servants
▶ 0:54:07there are a lot of talented people right behind them that are going to come in and pick up the pick up the pace so but I just have to belabor wouldn't it have made more sense to have those discussions see who's going to take this up, plan on who's going to take their place and phase it in as you go through this rather than do the cuts and then come back and figure out how do we manage that.
▶ 0:54:31I do think there was an opportunity at this case though even though we may look back and may have approached it a different way. There was an opportunity to allow people to leave that wanted to leave and at the same time negotiate with them for a smooth I yield back. Chairman Rogers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:54:57The Secretary's uh new state-of-the-art air traffic control system is long overdue. It seems like it's almost every other day that we're having some problem with air traffic control in this country with souls in the air under air care.
▶ 0:55:25This plan holistic and it's big and it's uh replacing antiquated telecommunications with new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies at over 25,000 new radios,und 475 new voice
▶ 0:55:56switches, and so on and so forth. Uh replacing 618 radars. uh which are past their life cycle already. Um addressing runway safety by increasing the number of airports with surface awareness initiative to 200. Um building six new air traffic control centers for the first time since 60s.
▶ 0:56:26Uh replacing towers and trons. installing new modern so hardware and software for all air traffic facilities to create a common platform system throughout towers, tracons and centers and then the special problems in uh with adding 174 new weather stations just in Alaska.
▶ 0:56:56Uh this is a huge undertaking at great cost. I've got a mechanical question that Chairman Wulmarmac opened up. How you going to do this? Are are we going to build a new system separate and apart from the present system and one day when you get the new one built, you'll switch to on and the other one to off? How's that going to work?
▶ 0:57:27Thank you for the question. Uh and and there is no doubt we are um we are looking for a real investment in this and we I believe it is a true investment in the US and the future. When I think of the aviation industry as a as an economic generator of over a trillion dollars and 10 million US uh good paying jobs.
▶ 0:57:48uh as it relates specifically to our plan that you know so well outlined part of that has to a big piece of that is being able to sustain the operations we have today as as I I can talk a little bit about Newark where we're transitioning from the copper wires what the oldfashioned telephone lines over to fiber optic cables that's just one example of where we're taking kind of what we have in place and we're transitioning into a new system as it relates to radars and facilities all of those things are going to
▶ 0:58:19be part of this where we continue to operate the systems safely every day and then we switch over as you described we switch over into these new modern systems with intentional deliberate testing to make sure the redundancy and the resiliency is there uh to ensure the uh safety of the traveling public would you be using some equipment under the current I'm sorry what equipment would you be you mixing in pieces from the new system to the old system and vice versa.
▶ 0:58:49So the whole idea is to replace the system. That is the but event but that is going to take some time to get there. And I think um yesterday we issued a request for information for the best and brightest companies to come in and help us do that transition. I think that's a real opportunity for us to understand. But the plan as as we described it earlier is to essentially continue to operate the system as we do today and then switch over to the new tech technologies.
▶ 0:59:17So it will be all new equipment supplies and the like in the new system. None of the old. No more floppy discs or paper strips. So you'll turn the switch to on and take the shovels and do away with the old system. It's a It's a little more complicated than that, but we will switch it over to the new system. All right. Good luck. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Yield back. And they'll be doing it while you're in the air, Mr. Rogers. Pretty confident.
▶ 0:59:50Miss Watson Coleman. Thank you, sir. Um, good morning to you. I have a couple of questions that have to do with the Newark airport. I also have some questions regarding just air traffic controllers in general.
▶ 1:00:09Uh could you just tell me what is the starting salary for an air traffic So it really depends on the facility, but we we bring them in as an academy student in roughly that 45 to 60,000 range. As I mentioned earlier, we've incentivized new academy people to to join us at 30% of that increase. Uh but when you get to a facility, it really depends on the facility.
▶ 1:00:32It can range from anywhere from the 60s and 70s all the way up to a fully certified professional controller can be in the 145 to 150 range. And that depends upon how large the airport is, how busy it is. Correct. There's levels. Yes, ma'am. Where where is where the Newark airport in that sort of I I will have to take the IO on what level the controllers are at Newark. I I should know that. But um but I do know that that is a well um well understood for the tower specifically.
▶ 1:01:02I'm not sure the level of the tower there. Um and then obviously we have the controllers at at Philadelphia area C which is controlling some of the the incoming to Newark. The problems with the Newark uh airport delays. Yes ma'am. What percentage of that delay or those delays were due to uh staffing issues? staffing shortages and what percentage of it is due to infrastructure that's old and needs to be replaced.
▶ 1:01:33So, so there there are three primary reasons for the delays. First and foremost is weather and and that is the constant one. The second is the outages that we were experiencing that we are working through and fixing now. And then the third is staffing. So, um staffing continues to be a challenge for us. I would say that we have 27 certified controllers going uh that are operating in Philadelphia area C now to manage the air traffic going into Newark and we have 22 we just got six new people going through going through training now.
▶ 1:02:02So we will be healthier to towards the end of this summer for um for Newark specifically in that area C. So I'm I'm confident in that the delays will be reduced for going in there. In fact, even working with the airlines uh through our recent delay reduction effort, um we will be here shortly and probably next week at a 34 rate which we'll be able to manage safely through that air traffic system with the controllers.
▶ 1:02:28So is it infrastructure, is um congestion or is it staffing that is going to u delay Newark being up in up and ready at its capacity um in October as opposed to July, August, September. I I would say I'm confident that um by October time frame the technology issues will be resolved.
▶ 1:02:56The secretary has been very clear with me that we need to fix this and we're fixing this now. The second piece to that is the um staffing. I think by October we will be very healthy in there uh at at staffing levels that we need. And then of course the weather is always going to be one of those challenges. So I I know sir that there were not cuts to the air traffic controllers but as my colleague mentioned there were cuts to staff that support it those those functions.
▶ 1:03:23And I'm wondering to what extent I understand that in in February Elon Musk Doge folks came there with their chainsaw and as a result 400 people were let go or or went on their own. Is that accurate? I I would I would clarify by saying that there were uh 400 probationary employees that were terminated, 360 of which returned to the FAA.
▶ 1:03:50Why did they um because they were because because it was wrong to let them go. It was it was a court case. Uh my understanding of the court case um ended up having the those those probationary employees be returned to to I I know that you've been in service in your capacity for quite a while. Were you at all consulted when those 400 people were identified uh to released?
▶ 1:04:20And did you have any input on whether or not that was going to impact your ability to to do what we all agree is your primary function is to make sure planes don't crash to one another or into grounds. Right. So um I certainly was was in the chair. I've been in the chair for four months now. Uh I was in the chair when those decisions were made and and was consulted as to how we were going to manage through that that period of time.
▶ 1:04:45I again I would say that we we preserved preserved the safety critical positions and we made sure that as we were working through the probationary employee situation that we were managing the workload as a again the these folks were there for probably less than a year obviously for the probationary terminations. Um but at the end of the day what we did was we consulted with the leadership teams in each one of those lines of business. Thank you Mr. Administrator.
▶ 1:05:12Apparently, they are needed though in that capacity and so I'm glad that they are back. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you, Sheriff Rutherford. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, ranking member and acting administrator Roshelo. Thank you for being here this this afternoon to talk about some of this.
▶ 1:05:30So I I I want to go back to the um ATC's and talk a little bit about that as well because it's very important to my district where we have the Jacksonville airroot tra traffic control center uh for all of northeast Florida which has that funnel effect and it's uh incredibly busy. 160,000 square miles of airspace, 20 military installations, 200 civilian airports. the how these folks do it.
▶ 1:05:59I have no idea. It it's it really is incredibly proud of those guys and gals and what and what they do. Um I was really happy to see this 97 million uh to to hire 2500 question though how much of that we're going to be able to accomplish. Uh I'm concerned about that.
▶ 1:06:21Uh, one of the things that that that I'd like to ask uh in in finding those people, the the the DEI biologics assessments that were being used previously for selection of ATC's air traffic controllers that um, you know, were part of the DEI process before, which I think a thousand uh that were proficient but refused hiring because of their biologics
▶ 1:06:52were then uh filed a lawsuit. Um of that thousand, are we going back to those folks? Uh I know we're I know we've gone back to performance-based select selecting. Yes, sir. That's correct. Okay. Merit-based approach to hiring. Right. Right.
▶ 1:07:14And and so have we gone back to those that were rejected who were proficient but rejected simply because of their race back uh you know three years ago whatever that was. I I am not specifically aware of those individuals or or an effort to go back to them. I will be happy to take the IU and get back to you and your staff to make sure that we follow up on that. I mean if if they're still willing to come that would be a a great source to tap into.
▶ 1:07:43I I I would think um and and I think what you're going to find also is that 35% failure rate in the academy is going to go down uh significantly when it's more based on um merit than biological information. So I I'm I'm glad to see you all moving in that direction.
▶ 1:08:05Uh can you talk a little bit about a a little more on what what specifically can we do to help you with this process? I mean I I mean we're talking about $39,000 per student of the you know you take 97 million that ain't a lot of money for 2500 students. That's 39,000 ahead. Uh is that going to be enough?
▶ 1:08:31And um are there other things that we can do to help you in this process? Well, first and foremost, I I appreciate the support. Um clearly uh working with Congress is going to be critical to our success going forward. I would also say that we have budgeted, we have programmed for up to 2500 in our current budget request with the $97.3 million. I would also make a very important point here as it relates to the throughput.
▶ 1:08:58So, as we have truncated the ability to get additional people into the academy itself and we've added instructors to do that basic as we use this the certified controllers to do the evaluation piece, we are confident that we're going to see a better graduation rate coming out of there. Part of that is the tutoring piece that I talked about earlier as well. So, I'm confident in what we have put in place to be able to kind of meet our goals this year. It is aggressive. I will I will acknowledge that.
▶ 1:09:28But I think is that going to be official tutoring over the weekends and and that sort of thing. So we will have tutors available but we'll also have the u the highdefinition uh simulators for people to go and practice that that I learned that in the military when we did a lot of that those simulators will be very valuable to those people who want to kind of put in the extra work. Let let me switch over to some of the work that they're going to be dealing with.
▶ 1:09:52um you know particularly looking at your long career at FAA and in the in the Air Force I'm sure you've seen you know areas where there's a lot of progress as well as a lot of stagnation uh within the aviation sector and part of the future of aviation is drone and how that's going to fit into the commercial space.
▶ 1:10:15Uh um now I see the budget deals with some of that in a in a modest amount and I'm appreciative of that. But let me ask you um can you share with this subcommittee a bit about your vision for how the drone commercial space is going to fit together? Uh because it it's it's coming quickly. Give you a few seconds to answer the question. I'm sorry.
▶ 1:10:40It it is coming quickly and it was one of the reasons why I was so excited to come back to the FAA bringing new innovative technologies into the airspace. That includes drones, that includes advanced air mobility, the EV talls or air taxis, and it includes commercial space as well. Thank you. I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. I'm my time. I yield back. No worries, Mr. Espeon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, thank you, Acting Administrator Rishel, for being here.
▶ 1:11:07Um I think we all acknowledge here that the stakes are very high with regards to air safety. Um and the FA the FAA is in the business of air safety. I myself in addition to other members I say a bipartisan group of five members were on a plane that whose wing was clipped at Reagan uh while taxiing.
▶ 1:11:32Uh this is just a few months after the horrible in uh accident that took so many lives. So uh safety is really um in danger for the the American public. And uh we had Secretary Duffy uh testify and he acknowledged that the skinny budget fell severely short of the kind of investment that is needed to meet the the challenge of safety.
▶ 1:12:00and we see an increase, but it still falls short of the $ 31 billion that are required to ensure that the American public is safe while traveling. As we approach the holiday season, and and other important uh seasons, we approach the World Cup, the the Olympics, there's going to be a substantial increase in in travel here, and we're not we're not ready.
▶ 1:12:28In fact, some of the changes that uh need to be made uh are going to take some time. So, we may even they may even require a supplemental budget. So, my my question first is uh do you acknowledge that we're short at the $22 billion level and do you feel that we need a supplemental to to meet the demand? Thanks for the question. There is a lot of activity. Look forward to the World Cup and and a number of the other things.
▶ 1:12:57I as as we have programmed here uh in the in the budget request um I believe this is appropriate for what we need to do with respect to moving from copper wire to fiber optic.
▶ 1:13:10I believe it is appropriate to supercharge controllers to get in the system and it will take some time which is why we're at offering how much time it will take for sorry for us to meet the demand you know for the world cup for the Olympics for heavy travel during the holidays so so I should have started with this the system is safe and we'll continue to be safe we will make sure of that the 45,000 people of the FA will make sure of that I would also we have gaps in air traffic controller uh supervision
▶ 1:13:40of uh air travel and and landing and takeoff uh in Newark and severely putting people in Daniel. How long is the overall plan to be ready and really at an optimum? We will maintain the safety of the system. We may slow it down, but we will maintain the safety system. You give me a time frame.
▶ 1:14:00I I I believe particularly engaging with Congress here when we talk about the secretary's plan for a big bold and and the president is a champion of this as well for a new air traffic system. We're looking at a 3 to fouryear period. I believe we can get there even. Do you think that will require a supplemental budget that I think will be bipartisan in scope? I think everybody wants safety. I I wouldn't disagree. We're going to need Congress's help for additional funding. We'll need a supplemental. Okay.
▶ 1:14:27Uh my next question is uh Elon Musk uh bracingly pushed for the FAA to use uh his Starlink satellite for air traffic control. That's been reported. Do you ever had have you ever had a conversation with Mr. Musk uh personnel at the White House or Dodge staff about potentially using Starlink for air traffic control systems? I have never had a conversation with Elon Musk.
▶ 1:14:55I have worked very closely to make sure that as we experiment with new capabilities including satellite technologies like have you had a conversation with the White House uh staff or or even with dash staff about using Starlink? No sir. Okay. Thank you so much. I yield back. Mr. Chair, Mr. Gonzalez. Uh thank you chairman. Thank you minister uh for for testifying today. Uh I I want to talk about safety.
▶ 1:15:22We often talk about aircrafts falling out of the sky, which is important, or getting clipped at at as you're as you're taxing, but uh I'm worried about these uh these increased amounts of unmanned aircraft systems, UAS drones that are falling out of the sky. We just saw Ukraine conduct one of the most um operations of the Russian Ukraine war.
▶ 1:15:45And with a small amount of money, with a small amount of of quadcopters, they they were able to decimate uh Russia's long long um long range strategic bombers, okay? To the tunes of billions of dollars. Uh I'm worried about that. I mean, that that's not a what if. That's now. That is currently right now what is happening. Uh my my question is pretty simple. Is our US airspace safe from drone threats?
▶ 1:16:18I would refer that question to the national security, but our airspace today is capable of managing safe integration of UAS. Because this is what I worry about is is after 9/11, everyone's pointing fingers and everyone saw this coming, but it's always somebody else's preview, right?
▶ 1:16:36And I'm trying to figure out, everyone has a piece of it, and I'm trying to figure out what role FAA plays in this when it comes to drone technology, when it comes to drone interaction, when it comes to to that piece to it. It's a great question and and I I I should highlight the close coordination, collaboration, and communication between the FAA, the DOT, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security for the things you're talking about.
▶ 1:17:04As we work integrating UAS into the airspace, we're working alongside our national security partners every day. Let me ask you another question. How many how many drones were in US airspace yesterday? I'll have to take an OU on that one for you. I I know we fly thousands of drones every day in the airspace. I don't have an accurate count for you today. We should absolutely know what drones are in our airspace every single day. And that's what I want us to get to. Who's in the air? What are they doing in there?
▶ 1:17:34What are the intentions? And I don't want to wait until it's after the fact. I want to get ahead of that. to that point, what do what resources do you need uh does FAA need from Congress to ensure that critical critical infrastructure uh from future drone threats are is safe?
▶ 1:17:53So our budget in fact does incorporate the the our need from Congress, our support from Congress to make sure that as we work through this safe integration into the airspace that we're working specifically on things like drone detection, drone mitigation, again, working with our national security partners who do this for a living. I think this is important. Once again, this isn't this isn't the future. We're here, right? And and guess what? Every drone that's up in the air isn't necessarily going to cause harm, but there may be some that do.
▶ 1:18:23And we're at a point where very soon, you know, Amazon packages are going to be delivered. It's going to be a very busy airspace. It already is. And the fact we we need to know how many drones are in the air and we need to know what those drones intentions are. And we also need to have counter UAS incentives, you know, our our uh mitigations involved in that. Uh, and I think FAA plays a role in that. I understand. I understand you're working with other partners, but the airspace belongs to you, right, in many cases.
▶ 1:18:53So, how do we continue to work with that? Big part of that is the budget on that. I'd love to continue to work with you and and hear back on some of your answers. I'd be happy to do that. We we are very much in in favor of the drone uh detection and of course the mitigation when appropriately uh utilized. I have one minute left.
▶ 1:19:09My last question is uh is on this section 570 of FAA reauthorization act directs the the department to partner with nationalmies to assess the loss of commercial air service in small communities and identify options for restoring it. I appreciate the directive and I think is it comes at a critical time for Del Rio. Del Rio is a border community. Del Rio is central to uh Laughlin Air Force Base as well as uh the Del Rio border patrol sector.
▶ 1:19:37Um, can you speak to how the department is imp and we're are currently without an air an airline right that that community has no access to an airline. Can you speak to how the department is implementing the 570 section 570 study and whether Del Rio given its proximity to international trade military installations and key uh pre key trade corridors will be considered in this assessment. Yes sir.
▶ 1:20:02uh appreciate the question because uh having just returned from the general aviation business aviation community, I understand the importance of small community air service. I know that our team has been working intensely on doing the analysis that you talk about that reauthorization directs us. I will circle back with you with the latest on that effort. Great. Thank you. I yield back, chairman. You know, I I I think Mr. Gonzalez uh in his previous question asks a good question, so I'm going to follow up real quickly. it.
▶ 1:20:29How how would it even be possible for the FAA to know how many drones were in US airspace in a given period of time? In a given day based on our current requirements, based on current law, is it even possible? I don't believe I would know. The FAA would know every single drone in the sky today.
▶ 1:20:56I don't believe that's but we do in fact work with legal operators and we would be able to collect that through that. You know a child with the drone would be more challenging. But I would tell you that the systems that we have in place and the companies that we work with I just returned from Texas and and watching some of the demonstrations there uh you utilizing what we call UAS traffic management. It's an incredible system and it will keep count of the drones you're talking about.
▶ 1:21:22Well, while it may be impossible to know a child getting a Christmas present launching a drone, um I think Tony's uh question is more relative to the nefarious actor out there who wouldn't be adhering to any rules and regulations that Yes, sir. And that's why I would just highlight our our constant effort with our law enforcement assistance program to go after the clueless, the careless, and the criminal to make sure that we're interdicting as quickly as possible uh to change that behavior.
▶ 1:21:53Amen. Mr. Agular. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um uh thank you, Administrator. Uh wanted to ask, uh I understand and I know uh there have been questions about staffing. administrator. Uh I understand the FAA has continued processing airport applications for federal grants. Um but review times have increased as the agency loses staffing expertise at its headquarters and district offices.
▶ 1:22:18This is troublesome for many airports as these uh airports work to keep their construction projects on schedule. um as you as you understand, how has DOA's efforts to downsize the FAA impacted the AY's grant review time and uh processing to date? Thank you for the question.
▶ 1:22:38I um I don't believe that any Doge activities which have not directly related to any AFA activities have had any impacts on the grant specifically. I would say that uh when we first came in there was a backlog a serious backlog of grant um announcements that we had to work through. I would say that um as I look at kind of my sheet here we're looking at 1.7 billion here in getting out in over 465 grants.
▶ 1:23:06So we have we've kind of got our momentum going back. But with respect to Doge specifically, I would say there were no impacts. You don't you don't think a loss of headcount has had any effort in in the timing uh and the delays of implementing the grants? I I I don't believe there was a a loss in headcount that impacted grants just to be specific to the question. We could we could run through the headcount losses that you that you've had.
▶ 1:23:34Um but you're so you're saying at the district level or at the HQ level uh you don't believe any of the loss of headcount has had a direct impact on processing and implementing grants? No sir, I think the delay has been related to kind of the backlog and us working through it. I don't believe it had to do with any change in uh the staffing. Uh how has the downsizing impacted uh the FAA's ability to approve airport projects in a timely manner?
▶ 1:24:04So I I think I think the opportunity really is to go from what we'll call traditional or paperbased type types of processing and using a more uh streamlined process. One of the things we're looking at specific to airport grants is the use of AI much like we do in the safety realm. Now we're looking at processing grants and using categorical exclusions for instance when we talk about specific projects as it relates to environmental issues.
▶ 1:24:29So, we're we're we're using a number of different tools that we have today that we probably didn't have a year ago to in order to expedite that. But I go again, I go back to it is not about the change in the workforce specifically. It's more along the lines of building out a more efficient process going forward. And we'd love to be partners in building an efficient process. I think that's what uh the chairman and the ranking member have have indicated. Um uh they are they are focused on and they we want to be willing partners here.
▶ 1:24:57I think what's frustrating is when uh actions happen or grants don't get out um uh and we just see the impacts and results uh not just of safety concerns um uh but of actual dollars getting out on the streets um uh back homes closer to our district.
▶ 1:25:14But since you mentioned um uh projects, since we're talking about projects, the FAA Reauthorization Act of of 2024 included provisions to speed up airport infrastructure projects by reducing regulatory overreach and land use approvals. You talked about categorical exemptions uh and streamlining the process for approving these projects with local user fees. Can you give an update on the FAA's progress in simplifying airport land use approvals and launching uh fully streamlined passenger facility charge approval process?
▶ 1:25:45Yeah, again I appreciate that qu question simply because we have because of what we'll what we described earlier as kind of backlogs. We have looked at the opportunity in addition to what uh reauthorization has directed for our um our staff to be able to kind of look for um like opportunities whether it's in the west coast or the east coast and be able to streamline that specific to environmental issue that is obviously a little bit more challenging but one of the ways we are doing that is in fact
▶ 1:26:16using the categorical exclusions to expedite the projects out there because I understand getting that money out there particularly in a in a important building season is is is as critical to the local communities. When will the locals see that see that benefit? When will they see the the projects and when will when will they see the delays I I think the delays have have begun to decrease significantly and I think they will continue to see more money coming out.
▶ 1:26:45Again, in the next few weeks, we're going to see hundreds of millions of dollars coming out to through those grants. I've got a local issue. Um, we'll put a uh we'll put it into the record uh for you to get back to us on uh San Frernardino International Airport as a federal contract tower. Uh and we've had some some language that we secured in the REIO. Um and we'd love your attention to this and your help with this. Uh we'll send it to the record as well. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Joyce. Thank you, Chairman. M uh Mr.
▶ 1:27:14Russo, thank you for being here today. I'd like to follow up on my distinguished colleague, Mr. Agluire's comments there and uh all of us here are among those who travel through DCA on a pretty regular basis and we wait at DCA with most of the uh traveling public does for reasons unbeknownst to us but uh can you share with the committee any specific steps that's being taken to improve the operational performance at DCA particularly during these peak travel periods?
▶ 1:27:46Yes sir. So there there's a there's a handful of way we we've tackled that. First and foremost, a after the tragic collision, we we cleared that airspace, we made it less complex by removing the helicopter traffic. So first and foremost, that um that really did contribute to the ability for the controllers to to manage air traffic in a safer, more efficient manner. Second, we focused on specifically the controllers themselves. So we were um we had an authorized rate at at staffing at 28.
▶ 1:28:15uh we're now at at 30 and we're going to 31. So we're bringing in we've prioritized hiring for DCA traffic specifically and getting people up to speed there. And then we work with the carriers at the end of the day. You have to work with the airports and you have to work with the airlines to make sure that as we have traffic surges that we're able to spread that out throughout the day to make sure there aren't these peaks which kind of contribute to delays themselves and add workload to the controllers.
▶ 1:28:42Having sat on the runway whether because we missed our slot because we were a little late taking off getting into DCA is an issue as well. I understand what aspects of the FAA's 26 requests are directly aimed at addressing those challenges. Are there further measures or plans under consideration to enhance reliability and efficiency at this critical airport while continuing to prioritize the safety? So I I would um point you directly to the staffing piece.
▶ 1:29:08I think the staffing piece whether it's at DCA and we're focused on DCA obviously uh in addition to places like Newark and other locations that that money that we're requesting for staffing is going to make a difference. We're not waiting for that money to come quite honestly. We're working towards um staffing appropriately as we can with the money that we do have. But I would say that um the staffing is a big piece.
▶ 1:29:31the technology when we think about new introducing new technologies we are we're in a good place as it relates specifically to DCA uh with respect to our um our fiber and our uh communications efforts but again I go back to when we think about how it integrates within the larger system with it the PTOIC tracon and the command center and some of these other locations it's going to be critical for us to make these investments into the technologies in addition to the controller workforce As we discuss
▶ 1:30:01this modernization efforts of the national airspace more broadly, it's important to ensure that the smaller airports like those in Ohio are not left behind. These airports do not have 247 air traffic control staffing and therefore rely mostly on automated systems like the automated weather observing system and the automated surface observance uh system for weather reporting to ensure that operations can be carried out safely at all hours.
▶ 1:30:25Investing in the infrastructure and technology at these smaller airports is essential to maintain this efficient and accessible airspace for all Americans. With this in mind, how do you plan to ensure that the smaller airports, those outside of the core 30 largest airports that rely on these automated systems and uh the most are adequately prioritized in any system with modernization efforts that are moving forward?
▶ 1:30:48That that's that's a great question because again I I certainly appreciate having just come from uh from the industry the importance of being able to to have that connectivity with uh local regional airports. Uh the technology specifically is part of our kind of ongoing refresh if you will.
▶ 1:31:05And when we think about service monitoring or airborne monitoring, all of these technologies, they may not have the same thing that say a JFK or a Newark would, but we want to make sure that the tools are there whether it's a um a staff tower or an uncontrolled airport that they have those technologies in place. And so part of this effort is to ensure the continuing kind of uh refresh of the technologies there and the enhancements as they come available.
▶ 1:31:31So uh how will your 26 requests ensure all airports regardless of size have access to the needed funding so they're able to operate at full capacity? Well, and certainly that that is part of the ongoing process as we look at um rolling out what we have today and that is separate from what we're talking about with respect to a whole new modern uh air traffic plan.
▶ 1:31:53It it just goes back to what I mentioned where we identify these airports through it through our NPIs through our our system through our um approach and make sure that as these uh refreshes are necessary that we're devoting the resources that uh are critical to get them back up to speed.
▶ 1:32:10I had the opportunity as I addressed Senate Secretary Duffy a few weeks back back in 2017 to go with then chairman Schustster and Secretary Chow up to Canada to see the system that they have there and when you go into our towers and you see the paper and the floppy discs the other thing that that's not the way it should be and I appreciate the efforts that you're going to take to fix that. I won't bore you with any more next 10 questions. Thank you sir. Thank you very much chairman.
▶ 1:32:37And finally, the distinguished vice chair of this subcommittee, Miss Spice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, administrator, for being with us this morning. I want to follow up on a um a comment that you made in response to uh Mr. Joyce's uh uh question, and that was after the DCA accident that you took um a good look at all of the incoming traffic, paused helicopter traffic in um but subsequent to the accident, there was another incursion or close call, I should say.
▶ 1:33:06I'm sorry, not an incursion, a close call that happened with two aircraft leaving DCA. Interestingly enough, I was on the tarmac and saw that happen. So my question to you is, do you believe that you are able to effectively communicate with DoD on traffic uh military traffic coming in and out of uh the DCA airspace? I I do believe we have a very good communication link with our Department of Defense partners.
▶ 1:33:32I would also say they're not flying right now because we are revisiting the letter of authorization that we have going unless it's a missionritical uh operation. Who defines mission critical? So that would be a law enforcement we we we have protocols that would set up through this letter of agreement that um a national security mission, a law enforcement intervention, something along those lines, a helicopter medevac type thing. Those would be coordinated with the controllers and there's certain codes they use to talk back and forth.
▶ 1:34:00But in terms of what we'll call priority transport or some of the other more routine activities that the army was uh conducting, we've shut those down until such time as we're comfortable with kind of what we'll call new rules of the road. And you do believe that the airspace in DCA is safe. Absolutely. Okay. Um earlier we talked about the Mike Monron Aeronautical Center. When I was elected in 2020, uh that was actually in my congressional district.
▶ 1:34:25It is now not after redistricting, but I'm very conscientious of of what happens in that um at that facility. One of the things that surprised me is the length of time it takes to actually get an air traffic controller into a tower. Uh they apply, they have to have an initial screening, then they have to do testing, then there's a medical evaluation. This process takes some time, and the one thing that surprised me the most is how long the medical eval can take. Can you talk a little bit about what you're doing to address that specifically? Yes, thank you.
▶ 1:34:54It it it did take too long and that's one of the reasons why the secretary has tasked us with supercharging this hiring process, cutting five months out of the process in general. Specific to to medicals though, um one of the ways we we truncated that process by looking at security and medicals in tandem to make sure we process them uh efficiently, effectively and and not waiting in line. So we were doing it concurrently. That made a big difference in in reducing that timeline.
▶ 1:35:22I also um knowing the medical certification piece of this whether it's for the controllers or the U pilots that we talk about I meet with the aerospace surgeon on a regular basis to track I know that we've just recently provided some additional information for people to essentially educate themselves to bring the proper paperwork but I would say that um it's it's over 90% of the people that come in they get that medical certificate when they walk out and that I that's a real tribute to again the secretary and the team that's put an emphasis on Let's
▶ 1:35:52talk about um air traffic controllers for a moment. Um certainly you've talked about the an increase in hiring which we all agree is necessary. C there are people that are um you know maybe you know want to leave the profession because they've been in it for many many years and it's a high stress position. Uh a lot of expectation. It's a zero failure mission.
▶ 1:36:10Um can you talk a little bit about the t the um uh overtime that has been put potentially placed on air traffic controllers particularly at larger airports um due to maybe shortages and how that's impacting their ability to um you know maybe longevity in that role. So uh I I work very closely with the controller union president.
▶ 1:36:33Um we we have a number of engagements to basically uh keep a finger on the polls for the health and the uh welfare of the controllers themselves. There are indeed facilities that require overtime simply because of staffing and making sure that we do that. At the same time we have a number of safety reporting systems in place that if someone is feeling that stress or someone needs that time off, we allow that person to take that time. So, we're very focused on kind of the safety, the health, and the welfare of the controllers themselves.
▶ 1:37:00Um, as it relates to kind of additional staffing, that's part of what we're going through here with hiring new controllers and in those uh facilities that are most critically staffed, prioritizing them for controllers that can come in and kind of hit the ground running. Thank you for that. Uh my time is almost up, but I just want to um offer you the opportunity when you um have time to come to Oklahoma City, visit the Mike Manernator Article Center. Uh I'm sure that the full committee chairman, Mr.
▶ 1:37:27Cole, and I along with uh Congressman Lucas, uh would love the opportunity to just visit with you and see what we can do to continue to strengthen the facility. It's a large facility. It has a lot of I think infrastructure needs that we need to invest in. And so certainly we are here to help you uh make sure that the facility meets the needs of the uh next century. So with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield. I thank the gentle lady. Uh as I recognize the final member of our panel here this morning.
▶ 1:37:57The chair notices a young man in the audience with a similar tie to Mr. Sisammani. Mr. Siskamani, do you have a guest here? I do. My son Kenny, uh he's here joining us. I I already told the press that he's not available for questions just yet, but he will be at some point. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Administrator Rushlo, for for being here with us today.
▶ 1:38:21Uh, I first want to ask about uh an issue that is top of mind for many um for many airports around the country, including Tucson International Airport in southern Arizona, and that is regarding uh PAS remediation. In my district, the presence of PAS is a major public health threat. The FAA has previously mandated the use of PAS containing foams for commercial airports.
▶ 1:38:43And while many airports like uh Tucson International Airport are now transitioning to foams that do not contain PAS, they're still burdened with the cost of remediation uh for previously used foams. How how does uh your agency plan to assist commercial airports in these critical remediation efforts? Thank you for the question. Uh Tucson has a special place. It was my first assignment as a second lieutenant in the air force and so I'm familiar with the airport and the importance of it with respect to um PAS and the mitigations there.
▶ 1:39:14Um I I actually connected with my airport's office yesterday and I understand we have ongoing uh dialogue with how we're going to manage through that. I know that there was an approp uh there was an authorization to um further mitigate the PAS that um we're talking about not just at Tucson but in other locations.
▶ 1:39:32I know uh that an appropriation will be det um particularly critical to being able to move forward on some of those mitigations, but I know that I also know that the work that we're doing specific to Tucson, but in addition to that, a few other airports that those those plan to mitigate that is um is ongoing with respect to ensuring that the airports have the the information they need to um to follow that up when the
▶ 1:40:02um when the funding appears. Yeah. And that I think that's critical. So, I'll certainly advocate for you all to receive the funds that are needed to clean up uh PAS in our community without creating the the undue burden on airports themselves that already have limited budgets as you know. So, I appreciate your attention on this critical issue. Next, I'd like to highlight a key facility in my district, Panel Air Park. If you've been in southern Arizona, you probably are familiar with Panel Air Park.
▶ 1:40:30general aviation and military facility originally known as the Morirana Army Airfield is notably uh where more than 10,000 pilots trained during World War II. Today, the air park supports a mix of military and commercial aviation activities with over 100,000 flight operations annually. Panel Air Park is among the busiest multi-use airports in the nation operating without an air traffic control tower.
▶ 1:40:56Uh last year, Congress passed the FAA reauthorization bill with a provision prioritizing the construction of air traffic control towers that supports safety at multi-use airports. Panel Air Park fits this desription description perfectly and was recently accepted as a candidate for the FAA contract tower program. Uh can I have your AY's commitment to fully consider Panel Air Park as a candidate for a new tower under this program? Yes, you can. Perfect. Thank you. that that's that's critical here for us.
▶ 1:41:24Uh on the air traffic control tower at Panel Air Park is greatly needed as and I look forward to working with you uh to make that tower a reality. Here with the last minute or so that I have um I want to ask about something that you touched on and your testimony and some of my colleagues have mentioned as well is the air traffic control tower staffing side of it as well. What specific steps has the FAA taking to ensure adequate staffing levels at critical facilities across the country on that matter?
▶ 1:41:53No, I again I I can't emphasize enough the importance of making sure that uh under the secretary's leadership that we do in fact realize the supercharge effort that we're uh the goal that we're attempting. So right now we're focused on making sure that we get up to 2500 through Oklahoma City as well as through our enhanced CTI training schools. So the collegiate uh partnerships that we have.
▶ 1:42:18In addition to that, we're incentivizing people to come to the FA and to go to tougher to staff locations with financial incentives. I think one of the things that's really going to help us in this effort though, it's it's critical is we're giving 20% to experienced controllers to stay per year to stay on as certified controllers, whether that's in an operational role or is in a training role to make sure that we have that bridge as we get healthy again in our in our controller staff.
▶ 1:42:47We're 3,000 down and we're working to make sure that within the next couple years that we've got that back. Real quick here, what do you think the shortage? What what uh what what's the reason for I mean it pairs pace well it it uh you know high training now you have incentives to stay just real quick what do you think highlights of of I think there were a variety of reasons part of it is I'll I'll just say advertising u we're we're trying to make sure people understand this is an exciting very rewarding uh career field I also think that the time to get people into
▶ 1:43:17the academy was too long we were at a year and a half in some cases and a 25-year-old's not going to wait around for a year and a half to get a job they're going to go to something. So, truncating the process and getting them into the school quicker, I think, is going to help us. Thank you, sir. We'll love to welcome you back to old stomping grounds in Tucson and have you there soon. Um, thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I yel back. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Sisammani. Uh, if you'd please the subcommittee, we're going to do one more round of just a single question. So, be thinking about your question.
▶ 1:43:44But before I go uh to my last question, I'm going to recognize the overall chairman of the committee once again, Mr. Cole, who has been gracious enough to sit through this entire hearing today. Mr. Cole, I'm going to recognize you for any final comments you'd like to make because I know you have an agenda and you've got to escape. So, I do. Thank you. Um, I just wanted to compliment you, Mr. Chairman, you, Mr. Ranking Member, and every member of this committee. And I particularly want to single out you, Mr. Administrator.
▶ 1:44:13This is the way a hearing ought to work. I mean, this is a really good hearing. All the questions were substantive questions. All of them focused on real needs. All of you have real concerns. You put them out there. It I just wanted to compliment the leadership of this committee on both sides of the aisle um for the manner in which this was done. And I want to comment or compliment you, Mr. M. You're a terrific witness.
▶ 1:44:38I mean, you know your stuff and you've been very candid and forthcoming with the committee and uh very helpful in us understanding and uh I'm serious. I do think this is one of the areas we can and should cooperate on. I don't see much in the way of partisanship that deals with this or even profound disagreement. We mostly agree on what needs to get done here. And again, I want to thank the members of the committee. Uh because everybody came here with a legitimate concern and very legitimate questions.
▶ 1:45:08Uh and I didn't think with all due respect anybody was looking for a television moment. just wanted to know the stuff and figure out what they could do to help you and the mission you have in keeping our our skies in particular safe. So, u again I just uh a lot more committee meetings are like this than we get credit for I think in the media.
▶ 1:45:32Uh and I just want to thank all of you again on each side of the aisle and our witness for for making it a really excellent excellent and useful committee hearing. So, thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member. I appreciate it. Thank Thank you very much, Mr. Cole. And uh we you've honored us with your presence here today and we truly appreciate it. One quick question. Uh my final questions on back to staffing. You got a lot of things that you're responsible for.
▶ 1:45:58Uh and it's good that on the mission critical safety required things that people have been excluded from the uh DRP and and uh efforts to downsize. But the fact is you do so many other things that are not directly related to aviation safety. And I'm talking about certifications and lots of other different programs.
▶ 1:46:21Re-evaluation of airspace as an example and you know things like uh rule making on visual you know beyond the visual line of sight th those kinds of things. Can you um can you confirm that our staffing reductions are not going to interfere with your ability to conduct some of these other lesser known functions of the FAA? Yes, sir.
▶ 1:46:48I can again safety critical we will always continue to pos where we find need. We have the ability to bring people back. The secretary has been very clear with me if I have a need for something whether it's aeronautical services or an engineer. And by the way, we continue to hire uh engineers to do our oversight. Um I have that ability to do that. So I I will tell you we will be solid on staffing. Thank you, Mr. Clber. Thank you very much. Uh Mr. Chairman, Mr.
▶ 1:47:19Chairman, I do have a question. Uh uh Mr. Administrator, you have had a long career in the United States Air Um, do you know, this is more of a talk, but if you don't know, I won't be insulted. Uh, the name of Daniel Chappie James. Yes, sir, I do. Thank you very much. Do you remember who he was? Yes, sir, I do. Well, Daniel Chap I knew Daniel Chaps.
▶ 1:47:47When you've been around as long as I have, uh, you would know these people. He was a good buddy. um he became the first African-American in this country to be a four-star general. Uh he got that generalship because of a DEI program that was put in place that became known as the tuxed airman. Now that seemed to be some preoccupation the DI on the subcommittee.
▶ 1:48:17So I'm not going to be able to sleep with myself if I don't raise this issue. Now, in his first administration, President Trump put in place a DEI program for people with disabilities, and it was successful. Now, in this administration, he's gotten rid of that program. Are you familiar with that program that brought disabil with disabilities into the FAA? I am generally familiar with it.
▶ 1:48:46It's a very successful program. Uh but we've gotten rid of that program now because of this notion of DEI. Uh Mr. Chairman, I I uh know that time this comes up at the subcommittees, but every time it comes up, I'm going to always rebut uh with facts.
▶ 1:49:12Chap James is one of the most successful air pilots, not a red tail because he became a real fighter pilot uh and help us to win that war. Uh and I hear back Mr. Ciscomani. Thank you uh Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:49:33And u one of the one of the things that oops uh that I talked to um um Secretary Duffy about as well, Administrator Duffy was about uh a midair crash that happened on February 19th in Morirana, Arizona. Um two people died in that uh in that terrible accident. Uh you know, should Duffy called it tragic. I agree. Um I know there's a report being compiled on that with with more details on it.
▶ 1:50:02I know that uh we briefly talked about some of the potential reasons for for that for that um incident, but I'm just you know just a comment more than anything that I'm looking forward to receiving the report here from the FAA hopefully soon. Is do you have any idea of a timeline that we could potentially be looking at? Are are you familiar with the incident or I I am familiar with the incident. It it was indeed a tragedy. I'm not familiar with the status of the report. Um I I will certainly take that as an IOU and get back to you.
▶ 1:50:30Um, you know, it it's one of those things where I continue to encourage again coming from business general aviation is um there's some very important equipment that I think um people have an opportunity to equip their aircraft with that can increase safety in those uh circumstances. I understand it was an uncontrolled airfield at the time. So, um but I I commit to you to getting you the update on that report. Excellent. Thank you, sir. Yes, Mr. Quigley. Uh Mr. Chairman, I'll abide by your one question. Let's be a fivepoint question.
▶ 1:51:00That's all right. No, I'm just kidding. Um there is a bipartisan uh quiet skies caucus and on bipartisan basis got provisions into the last reauthorization including uh creation of an aviation noise officer, regional noise officers and then a requirement that you review uh and revise the FAA noise standards. Where are we at with that and will the budgetary issues affect that as well? I I I am aware of it.
▶ 1:51:31Um I understand that um we regularly engage in quiet sc quiet skies caucus efforts, not to mention community engagement. Um, I I can't tell you today again I'll I'll commit to getting it back to you, but where we're at specific, but I can tell you that the budget that we are requesting goes directly to supporting those activities. Now, I'd appreciate we don't have the time today, but I would appreciate you or your staff.
▶ 1:52:00They could engage with myself, my staff to talk about this further and perhaps have an ongoing discussion with that bipartisan quiet skies caucus. Thank you, sir. Mr. strong. Mr. Administrator, I know that you mentioned earlier that 35 you had a 35% failure rate uh in the training of air controllers. I encourage you to maintain the highest of standards. Never lower those standards.
▶ 1:52:29Uh I was it was interesting for you to mention that in 2021, Huntsville International Airport was selected as one of the five locations of UAS detection and mitigation testing. Section 383 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act directed the FAA to test and evaluate technologies and systems that can detect and mitigate potential safety risk posed by UAS at and near airports. Uh Mr.
▶ 1:52:57Administrator, what is the status uh of that testing and what feedback have you received from DHS, DOJ or other law enforcement partners? Thank you for the question. Yes. Um, in fact, uh, the the testing at at Huntsville was was very valuable.
▶ 1:53:13In fact, my understanding, uh, from my team is that 48 different UAS were tested in 30 different types of detection equipment were tested at at five different airports, most recently up in New Jersey, but Huntsville was a particularly important part of that effort.
▶ 1:53:30What we learned from that effort was that the detection capabilities are there today and we are working with whether it's airports or law enforcement and certainly DoD and DHS working closely with them to make sure that those detection equipment uh capabilities are there for the right people.
▶ 1:53:45In addition to that, the mitigation piece, which we want to make sure, as as mentioned earlier, since we're responsible for the safety of operating in the skies, we want to make sure that those mitigation efforts um are carefully put in place because mitigation can in fact affect civil aviation traffic. And so that's part of this effort that we're going through both on the mitigation or the detection side. Critically important. And then we partner with the appropriate law enforcement security agencies to do the mitigation piece.
▶ 1:54:15Thank you, Mr. Rushlo. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you. Bring us home, Miss Torres. Um, thank you, Chairman. And, um, there's there's two things that I want to um, ask of you, but I'm going to put them in writing um, to you. I just want to let you know about them today because they're critically important for some of my constituents.
▶ 1:54:35Um, one is an update on where the six studies stand uh included in the 2024 FAA reauthorization um studies on air uh cabin air quality, temperature, radiation um and modern evacuation training. Um and the other is on the Poppy uh system as you know it as a position approach path indicator.
▶ 1:55:03It's a bipartisan supported program um that requires a substantial updates. Uh it saved a lot of money on energy by replacing the bulbs. Um can you give us an update on the progress of this program for for the uh runways that still need to be updated? I I am familiar with the Papy program. Um I I do commit to getting you the kind of the status on on both of those issues. Thank you.
▶ 1:55:30And I yield back and just in time, Pete, welcome back. You've got just a few seconds to ask your last question. Thank Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh you you told me it was the best for last. You're not saying that in public anymore, but that's fine. Well, I kind of inferred that with Miss Torres, but uh but you made it back. I wanted to build Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your indulgence. Uh, Mr. Administrator, I wanted to build off of uh what ranking member Klyurn um discussed.
▶ 1:55:59And one of the um one of the programs that exists within uh your agency uh and within DOT broadly is the DBE program, the disadvantaged business enterprise uh program. um the FAA reauthorization act including uh included a bill that was mine um that uh was specific for uh DBE supportive services expansion. It created uh DBE supportive services program at the FAA.
▶ 1:56:27Um I appreciate that the FAA budget justification highlights that the FAA is prioritizing implementing uh DBE programs in 20 FY26. However, the budget justification did not request funding for DBE programs. Just as a refresher, these are uh small for-profit businesses and at least 51% owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, um women, minorities, other socially and economically disadvantaged groups.
▶ 1:56:57Um, oftentimes our federal programs reward prime contractors and very big folks who have more uh compliance people than they than they uh know what to do with. And making sure that smaller businesses have an opportunity um to to bid on contracts um and to procure is an incredibly important part of of what we do.
▶ 1:57:21Um, how does the FAA plan to implement the DBE program and this new uh supportive services program without requesting any Well, I I would I would start by saying understand the importance of this. As you mentioned, there are certainly those vendors out there that have kind of subs and and that's how they they conduct this. I know that our um both our our disadvantaged business office as well as our airports office work together in kind of executing these plans, working with airports, working with associations that support these as well.
▶ 1:57:51So um with respect to kind of what we're doing as it relates to um today's activities, I I'll I'll take the IOU to get back and come in give briefing to you and your staff to kind of where we're at next. I know we have a a subject matter expert on that on that topic itself and um I'm happy to kind of get him engaged specifically related to the funding. This is the appropriations committee and and and the funding and the resources that you decide uh to use in as you implement this this program.
▶ 1:58:20I'd be interested in seeing and if you uh want to work with our office uh I' I'd definitely take you up on that. Thank you. Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Administrator. Thank you so much for being here today. I I want to echo the sentiments that Mr.
▶ 1:58:35Cole made earlier about the quality of the hearing and certainly the quality of the witness, but I'm also mindful of the fact that you have a good staff of great people behind you and Kate and Julie and Hannah and others across that spectrum uh do yman's work and are dedicated to the service of the general public, the taxpaying public. And so to the staff, I want to thank you for the work that you do.
▶ 1:59:05As well, want to remind our members that you have seven days to submit any questions that you'd like submitted to the record with our subcommittee staff. Again, I want to thank everybody for being here today. Mr. Clber, as always, good to share the deis with you and uh I hope it's a good week for you. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you uh for what I consider to be a very substantive hearing.
▶ 1:59:30Uh I do and will always reiterate that we aren't asking I've never asked for any standards to be lowered. I only ask for what I call fair not preferential but fair treatment. And so as a member of this committee uh I'm going to always insist upon the record uh carrying that notion. Mr.
▶ 1:59:58Chairman, when I was studying uh in college, I studied a man named Alexis the Toqueville. I'm sure you're familiar with the French nobleman. Yes. Absolutely. He wrote a two volume work called Democracy in America.
▶ 2:00:16And the tokill wrote in that book that America's greatness is not that it is more enlightened than any other nation but rather because she has always been able to repair her faults. That's what makes this country great. We find a fault and we repair it. That's how Daniel Chappie James Jr. became great repairing a fault. Thank you and I y back. And on that note, this subcommittee stands