Politico
Oriana Pawlyk
14 May 2024

The nearly 1,000-page bill, which the House is expected to send to President Joe Biden’s desk Wednesday [15 May 2024], will guide aviation policy for the next five years, including by reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration and allowing more drones and air taxis, within the crowded skies. But it takes only modest steps on other serious concerns plaguing air travel and does little if anything to crack down on allegations of slipshod quality at and lax federal oversight of Boeing.

Lawmakers said they need more time to study exactly what’s gone wrong at the nation’s biggest plane manufacturer before they legislate a fix. That outcome is a testament to both the complexities of America’s aviation system and the difficulties of getting substantive legislation through a bitterly divided Congress.

The bill steers the FAA in the right direction on a number of safety measures, such as controller staffing and ethics training for employees who oversee manufacturers, said Guzzetti, who has worked at the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. But while it contains “a lot of studies and efforts,” he said, most of them wouldn’t yield potentially crucial data for “anywhere between six months to five years.”..

[Read more: Congress’ big vote on air travel leaves out ‘many vexing issues’ — including the one you’re thinking about - POLITICO]

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