Washington Wire - 2006-10-09

Senate Confirms New Transport Secretary
The U.S. Senate late last month unanimously confirmed Mary Peters as U.S. Secretary of Transportation, filling a slot open since July when Norman Mineta left the job. Peters, 57, previously served as Federal Highway Administrator and is a veteran of state highway jobs. Prior posts included serving as national director for transportation policy and consulting for HDR, an architectural and engineering firm. She now leads a department of 60,000 employees, including Federal Aviation Administration workers. She'll also play a pivotal role in such ongoing policy issues as allowing foreign companies more ownership control over U.S. carriers to advance a U.S.-European Union Open Skies treaty and finding ways to ease gridlock in the skies. "Mary is an innovative thinker who will work with state and local leaders to confront challenges and solve problems," President George W. Bush said in nominating her on Sept. 5. Mineta was the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation in U.S. history.

FAA Eyes Mandatory Retirement for Pilots
Under pressure from some airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration is considering whether to lift mandatory retirement for pilots older than 60. FAA administrator Marion Blakey on Sept. 27 appointed a committee to study whether to relax 37-year-old rules setting the requirement that neither pilot in a cockpit can exceed that age milestone. The committee will study whether to allow at least one of two pilots in a cockpit to exceed the age limit, she said. "The FAA must ensure that any future rule change, should it occur, provides an equal or better level of safety to passengers," said Blakey. Legislation to increase the age is pending in Congress and in November, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations' aviation organization, will increase the upper age limit for pilots to age 65, provided that one of the two pilots in the cockpit is under age 60. As a safety precaution, FAA since 1959 has required all U.S. pilots stop flying commercial airplanes at age 60. Such carriers as Southwest and JetBlue, and pilots at other carriers who lost pensions when their companies declared bankruptcy, have been lobbying for the change. The FAA panel, whose work begins this month, includes airline, union and medical representatives. The committee is co-chaired by heads of the Air Transport Association and the Air Line Pilots Association.

Congress Questions ATC Staffing Levels
Members of Congress are questioning whether air traffic control towers are adequately staffed after the August crash of a Comair jet in Kentucky. The Aug. 27 crash of the regional jet killed 49 people after the sole traffic controller failed to notice it was attempting to take off from the wrong runway. The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged it violated its own policy by allowing only one controller to be in the Lexington tower. A House aviation subcommittee hearing Sept. 20 focused on whether there are enough air traffic controllers. Lawmakers pointed to such airports as George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston as an example of understaffing—the airport has only 29 controllers, only one more than needed to be fully staffed daily, said Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas). "We must make a better effort to address staffing shortfalls," said Rep. Ben Chandler, a Democrat who represents the Lexington district where the Comair jet crashed. FAA said there are no staffing shortages. The crash came just two months after FAA imposed a new contract on air traffic controllers that sets lower salaries for new hires. The contract, imposed with congressional consent, ended months of acrimony over staffing levels at airports. FAA is trying to reduce costs associated with controllers by 10 percent by 2009 in part by reducing staffing levels in slower areas. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) said FAA should reexamine its policies. For example, he said, what would happen if a controller working alone suddenly became ill? "FAA needs to come to grips with some very serious air-traffic controller staffing issues," he said.