2008

January 14, 2008: Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced a new national policy that would make it easier for overcrowded airports to add capacity and reduce delays by encouraging airlines to spread their flights more evenly throughout the
day. Once finalized, Department of Transportation would encourage congested airports in New York and across the country to move away from the decades-old practice of charging aircraft landing fees based simply on the weight of the plane. As a result, airports would be able to spread traffic more evenly throughout the day – allowing them to serve more passengers, reduce delays, and help avoid the need for sustained Federal Government intervention, Secretary Peters said. The proposed policy changes would be open to public comment for 45 days before being finalized. Changes to the FAA’s Policy on Airport Rates and Charges would also allow airport operators to include the cost of projects designed to expand capacity in the new landing fees. Currently, airports can only
include those costs after the projects have been completed.

January 24, 2008: FAA announced that, as a result of the runway safety summit held in August 2007, FAA and industry had made significant accomplishments in achieving the goals of their runway safety plan. As of this date, 71 of the targeted 75 medium and large
airports had completed upgrades to airport painted markings. The remaining four were expected to have their markings upgraded well in advance of the June 2008 deadline. Sixty-two small airports had upgraded their markings, 121 airports planned to complete the work by the end of the year, 25 airports planned to enhance markings in 2009 and 22 airports had expressed interest but had not yet provided a target completion date. The FAA also was taking steps to propose extending the enhanced taxiway centerline requirement to all certificated airports. FAA published a draft change to Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5340-1J, Standards for Airport Markings, in late December 2007. Comments were due by February 26, 2008. In addition, FAA completed a runway safety review of 20 airports based on runway incursion data and wrong runway departure data. FAA also issued a draft change to AC 150/5210-20, Ground Vehicle Operations on Airports, in late December 2007. Public comments were due by February 26, 2008. On January 15 acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell convened a teleconference with the chief executive officers of U.S. commercial carriers to reinforce the need for improved pilot training and cockpit procedure, citing concern over recent high-visibility runway safety events.

January 28, 2008: FAA finalized a special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) that created new pilot training, experience, and operating requirements to increase the safety of the widely used Mitsubishi MU-2B airplane. The final rule mandated a comprehensive
standardized pilot training program for the aircraft. The regulation required use of a standardized cockpit checklist and the latest revision of the airplane flight manual. MU- 2B operators also must have a working autopilot onboard except in certain limited
circumstances. Owners and operators were to comply with the SFAR within a year.

February 6, 2008: FAA announced it planned to deploy new air traffic tower simulators to 19 locations around the country to help train thousands of new air traffic controllers in an interactive operational environment that provides realistic scenarios. The new
simulators would be deployed over the next 18 months at the following towers: John F. Kennedy (NY); Los Angeles; Oakland (CA); Washington Reagan National; Dallas Fort- Worth; Atlanta; Denver; Philadelphia; Cincinnati; Cleveland; San Antonio; Memphis
(TN); Honolulu; Orlando (FL); Charlotte (NC); Minneapolis; Boston; and Newport News (VA). The FAA planned to install an additional six simulators at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.

February 7, 2008: The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a nomination hearing for acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell to formally become the Administrator. After the hearing, New Jersey’s two democratic senators, Frank
Lautenberg and Bob Menendez, placed a hold on the nomination, preventing it from going to the Senate floor for a vote. Both said they had concerns about safety and traffic issues with the FAA. Both senators were also unhappy with FAA changes to the New
York area airspace intended to ease congestion. The contended these innovations added to noise pollution. Sturgell has been acting FAA Administrator since Marion Blakey’s term expired. Bush nominated Sturgell to be her replacement October 23.

February 13, 2008: In testimony before the Subcommittee on Aviation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, GAO investigators said recent data indicated that the numbers of runway incursions, precursors to actual aviation
accidents, were growing. From fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2007, the number and rate of incursions increased by 12 percent and both were nearly as high as the 2001 peak. Furthermore, the number of serious incursions—where collisions are narrowly or barely avoided—increased from 2 during the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 to 10 during the same quarter in fiscal year 2008. GAOsaid FAA had taken steps to address runway safety, but further progress had been impeded by a lack of leadership and coordination, technology challenges, lack of data, and human factors-related issues. FAA’s actions included deploying and testing technology designed to prevent runway collisions and promoting changes in airport layout, markings, signage, and lighting. GAO pointed out FAA had not updated its national runway safety plan since 2002, despite agency policy that such a plan be prepared every two to three years. GAO also said that runway safety technology currently being installed, which is designed to provide air traffic controllers with the position and identification of aircraft on the ground and alerts of potential collisions, was behind schedule and experiencing cost increases and operational difficulties with its alerting function. Furthermore, air traffic controller fatigue, which
may result from regularly working overtime, continued to be a matter of concern for the National Transportation Safety Board and others.

February 14, 2008: Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that the United States and Australia concluded a landmark Open-Skies aviation agreement that eliminated restrictions on U.S.-Australia air services for the carriers of both countries. Under the new agreement, U.S. and Australian airlines can select routes and destinations based on consumer demand, without limitations on the number of such carriers that can fly between the two countries or the number of flights they can operate. The agreement also removed restrictions on capacity and pricing, and provided opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements, including code-sharing, between participating carriers. With this agreement, Australia becomes the 90th U.S. Open-Skies partner.

February 15, 2008: In an effort to streamline the application process for air traffic controllers, FAA created consolidated screening and testing centers to provide one stop shopping for prospective new employees. Consolidating security clearances, medical
screenings, and fingerprinting allowed the agency to cut weeks off the application process. To get numerous applicants through the system at one time, the FAA created a pre-employment processing center that coupled screening and testing. The first center
was set up at the regional FAA office in New York in January.

February 26, 2008: FAA announced plans to install runway status lights at Los Angeles International Airport. Using a series of red lights embedded in the pavement, the system would warn pilots if it were unsafe to cross over or enter a runway. Under an agreement
between the FAA and Los Angeles World Airports, pilots would begin testing runway status lights at Los Angeles International Airport in early 2009. LAWA would fund the system at an estimated costs of $6 million. The FAA would install, test, evaluate and
maintain the system.

February 28, 2008: President Bush signed into law legislation extending FAA authorization and the existing aviation excise taxes through June 30, 2008. The legislation, H.R.5270, also renewed FAA's airports contract spending authority, which expired at the end of 2007, freeing up Airport Improvement Program dollars. The president signed the legislation one day before the agency's authorization was due to expire.

March 6, 2008: FAA initiated an action to collect a $10.2 million civil penalty from Southwest Airlines for operating 46 airplanes without performing mandatory inspections for fuselage fatigue cracking. Subsequently, the airline found that six of the 46 airplanes
had fatigue cracks. From June 18, 2006 to March 14, 2007, FAA alleged that Southwest Airlines operated 46 Boeing 737 airplanes on 59,791 flights while failing to comply with a September 8, 2004 FAA airworthiness directive that required repetitive inspections of
certain fuselage areas to detect fatigue cracking. FAA alleged that after Southwest Airlines discovered that it had failed to accomplish the required repetitive inspections, between March 15, 2007 and March 23, 2007, it continued to operate those same 46 airplanes on an additional 1,451 flights. The amount of the civil penalty reflects the serious nature of those deliberate violations. Southwest Airlines had 30 days from receipt of the FAA’s civil penalty letter to respond to the agency.

March 10, 2008: FAA mandated significant upgrades to aircraft cockpit voice and flight data recorders – improvements that enable investigators to retrieve more data from accidents and incidents requiring investigation. Under the final rule, which affects manufacturers and operators of airplanes and helicopters with 10 or more seats, all voice recorders had to capture the last two hours of cockpit audio instead of the current 15 to 30 minutes. The new rule also required an independent backup power source for the voice recorders to allow continued recording for nine to 11 minutes if all aircraft power sources were lost or interrupted. Voice recorders also were required to use solid state technology instead of magnetic tape, a medium that has been shown to be vulnerable to damage and loss of reliability. Airplanes (but not helicopters) operating under Parts 121, 125 or 135 of FAA regulations had to retrofit some equipment by April 7, 2012. The rule also mandated these enhancements on all newly built aircraft and helicopters after April 7, 2010.

March 10, 2008: Airlines serving Newark Liberty Airport agreed to temporarily cap and spread flights for two years at a level that would allow 30 more flights per day than during the previous summer while helping to reduce chronic delays. The cap, which
would apply to both domestic and international flights, would allow an average of 83 flights per hour during peak periods and would go into effect in early May.

March 10, 2008: Department of Transportation Secretary Peters announced that the department would move key elements of NextGen – the new satellite-based aviation system designed to enhance efficiency and minimize delays across the nation – from
design to delivery in 2008. She said Florida would serve as the test-bed for the new system beginning the summer of 2008, with the introduction of NextGen at Daytona Beach. A new descent technique would also help to save fuel, and reduce noise and emissions in Miami. In addition, Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS- B) technology would help increase the capacity of airspace along Florida’s Gulf Coast by allowing planes to fly more closely together without compromising safety.

March 13, 2008: Department of Transportation Secretary Peters announced the United States and Croatia concluded an Open-Skies agreement that would establish free trade in aviation services between the two countries. The aviation agreement was the first
between the countries and came after two days of negotiations in Zagreb, Croatia. Under the new agreement, airlines from both countries would be allowed to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand, without limitations on the number of U.S. or
Croatian carriers that could fly between the two countries or the number of flights they could operate. The agreement also contained no restrictions on capacity and pricing, and provided opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements, including code-sharing,
between U.S. and Croatian carriers. The agreement offered U.S. cargo carriers special benefits by allowing them to carry air cargo between Croatia and third countries without requiring a stop in the United States. Croatia became the 91st U.S. Open-Skies partner.
March 18, 2008: FAA directed federal aviation inspectors to reconfirm that commercial carriers operating within the United States had complied with all airworthiness directives (ADs). By March 28, 2008, inspectors had to complete review of ten ADs per fleet. In
total, they completed a review of ten percent of the directives applicable to a fleet.