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Klobuchar Statement on Passage of FAA Reauthorization Bill

March 22, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a member on the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security, released the following statement after the Senate passed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill. 

“The aviation system is too crucial a piece of our nation’s infrastructure and too important to our nation’s economy to let the current problems go unaddressed,” said Klobuchar.   “Now is the time where the rubber meets the runway.  This bill modernizes our air transport system and helps make that system the safest in the world.” 

This legislation will require the FAA to adopt new rules on pilot fatigue, which haven’t been updated since 1950. It will also boost pilot training and raise the standards a pilot must meet before entering the cockpit.  Additionally, the bill will upgrade and modernize the Air Traffic Control system to incorporate the next generation or “Next Gen” system of air traffic control technologies.

The FAA Reauthorization Bill also includes many provisions from a bill drafted by Senators Klobuchar (D-MN) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) last year that will:

• Establish a whistleblower office in the FAA;
• Establish a cooling-off period for FAA inspectors before they can work for airlines and interact with FAA;
• Establish a roving “National Review Board” that will travel around to various FAA inspection offices to conduct safety audits; and
• Require Review Board inspections of maintenance facilities be periodic and random.

In addition, the bill includes a passenger bill of rights, cosponsored by Klobuchar, that would require that airlines provide passengers with food, water, and adequate restrooms during a delay.  It would also require airlines to return to the gate once the plane has sat on the ground for three hours – or 3.5 hours if the pilot thinks the plane will take off before that time.

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