Secretary of Transportation nominee Elaine Chao wants to
speed up modernization of air traffic control technology but did not commit to
support for pulling ATC into a nonprofit, self-funding organization run
separately from the FAA.
During her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, Chao said
she wanted to create a dialogue around the ATC proposal, a version of which the
Senate struck
down last year. After joking that she'd like to be confirmed before
deciding her position, Chao said President-elect Donald Trump's administration
has not yet taken a position on it, adding she was aware of the concern from
those in favor of it and from those who fear it would erode air safety. "This
is an issue of great importance, a huge issue that needs to have national
consensus," Chao said. "This will be one of the issues in which the
White House has some say."
In her own testimony, Chao was eager to start those
discussions in advance of the Sept. 30 deadline for FAA reauthorization, and
regardless of ATC's organizational future, she wants to transition to NextGen
ATC technology, which relies on satellites rather than radar. She has the same
intentions for airport modernization, she said. "We need to have a greater
emphasis on improving the rate of modernization. The rate of change and
improvements is not what we would all like."
Chao also remained neutral when Democratic Sen. Amy
Klobuchar asked about two current U.S. policies that some say create unfair
competition for U.S. carriers: the decision not to reconsider the U.S.'s Open
Skies agreements with the Gulf
carriers and the recent Department of Transportation approval
for Norwegian Air Shuttle to fly its Irish subsidiary to the U.S.. Chao
merely replied that she "looked forward to working with" Klobuchar on
the issues.
Republican
Sen. John Thune—chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation—hoped
the body would confirm Chao by Inauguration Day, and Chao seems unlikely to
face any major opposition within the Senate. She won confirmations to serve as
Labor secretary under George W. Bush four times and has yet to see an
opposition vote recorded against her.