House approves new FAA funding bill; Babbitt confirmed as FAA administrator

The FAA is one step closer to having its funding outlook secured for the next three years now that the U.S. House has passed a funding bill for the agency. While fuel taxes and airline ticket taxes may go up, assuming the Senate passes the same bill, general aviation pilots won’t have to worry about user fees, Government Executive reported. The bill includes $70 billion in infrastructure funding between now and 2012, money that would be split up for airport improvements and air traffic control system upgrades. And in an effort to prevent another impasse situation like that in 2006 that led to hostile relations between the FAA and air traffic controllers, the new funding bill includes requirements that both sides go to neutral mediators if contract talks break down. In related news last week, the Senate confirmed Randy Babbitt as the FAA’s new administrator. Babbitt was once a pilot for Eastern Airlines and was the president of the Air Line Pilots Association for eight years, the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization reported. While the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers has given Babbitt a supportive but cool reception so far, Babbitt says one of his top priorities will be mending labor relations within the FAA.

Pilots flying in Canada won’t have to install 406-MHz emergency locator transmitters in their planes by a February 2011 deadline because the rule did not provide any alternative ways to meet the new requirement. Later this year, the government could revise the rule with an alternate option, such as requiring pilots to carry a personal locator beacon, the Experimental Aircraft Association reported. The 406-MHz ELTs can cost $1,000 or more to purchase and install, while a personal beacon operating on the same frequency costs less than $500. Earlier this year, search and rescue satellites stopped monitoring the old 121.5-MHz ELT frequency, leaving only ground stations and aircraft capable of picking up the signals. While 406-MHz signals are much more precise, the additional cost has many pilot groups opposing mandatory installation in general aviation planes. Canada’s rules would have applied not only to planes based there, but to planes traveling into Canada from elsewhere, such as the United States, where 406-MHz ELTs are not yet required.

The U.S. Postal Service has reversed course on a $46,000 cost-cutting measure that would have eliminated weekly airmail service to a backcountry airstrip in central Idaho. The only way to get to the 20 families and a research station located there to get their mail is by plane, hiking, or jetboat — there are no roads in the exceptionally rugged part of Idaho about 135 miles north of Boise, National Public Radio reported. A plane brings the mail once a week, or once every two weeks in the winter. But the post office said earlier this year it couldn’t justify the expense of the flights, offering residents free post office boxes instead. The catch: Reaching the boxes would require a three-day hike, or else hiking four miles and driving 250 miles each way. Under pressure from Idaho’s senators, the post office relented and said the flights would resume uninterrupted.

When Yavuz Berke flew a Cessna Skyhawk from Canada into Wisconsin on April 6, officials quickly picked up his plane and scrambled fighters to intercept him as worries mounted that he might be a terrorist. But the fighters were never given permission to shoot down Berke’s plane, as officials soon learned from his girlfriend in Canada that he was suicidal, the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization reported. Berke flew south, past Madison, Wisc., and Chicago, before landing on a road in Missouri and fleeing to a nearby supermarket, where he was arrested after flying for more than four hours. FAA officials worked with their counterparts in Canada as the flight progressed to learn that while the plane had long-range fuel tanks, security cameras at his airport showed Berke didn’t take anything on the plane with him. When the FAA learned that Berke was suicidal, the fighters that had been following him gave him more space. Based on the flight’s path and range, officials were able to call ahead to controllers in airspace where the plane was likely to pass through, giving controllers time to clear other traffic out of the way.

A multi-year survey of thousands pilots that was conducted by NASA at a cost of $11 million may never see the full light of day now that a report from the Government Accountability Office has called the survey out of date, Nextgov.com reported. The survey grabbed headlines in late 2007 and early 2008 when NASA refused initially to release any of the results for fear of compromising the confidentiality of respondents. Some of the data was eventually released in a format that made it hard to analyze. The recent GAO report says while the survey was well-designed, it is now too dated to be used for anything other than historical analysis. To do the survey right, NASA would have to reveal more information in the survey about specific aircraft and carriers involved in incidents, the GAO report said.

Though two companies have modified versions of a DC-10 and a Boeing 747 ready to fight fires, the U.S. Forest Service has been reluctant to let its money be spent hiring such large equipment. The companies flying those planes are hoping for that to change now that a 400-page NASA study says the aircraft are suitable for fighting fires in flat and hilly areas, the Associated Press reported. The NASA study cautioned the planes shouldn’t be used in rugged, mountainous terrain, though, because they’re less maneuverable than the smaller planes currently used in aerial attacks. The operators of the DC-10 say it has been used in rugged areas of California safety by requiring pilots to fly 300 feet above ground level. A smaller lead plane typically flies ahead of the DC-10 to determine how stable the air is and whether there are any downdrafts in the vicinity. The DC-10, which has flown 245 missions fighting fires on a contract with the state of California, can drop 12,000 gallons of water or retardant at once, ten times the capacity of a conventional air tanker. But because the U.S. Forest Service picks up the tab on many forest fire efforts, the plane can’t be used outside of California where the Forest Service money would be paying for it. The 747, operated by an Oregon company, has been tested but not used fighting actual fires. It has a 24,000 gallon capacity. One big benefit of large air tankers is that they can drop a long and thick line of retardant along a ridge in one pass to stop a fire’s advance.

The original LORAN-A went into service about 60 years ago, a reliable way for ships to navigate precisely using land-based stations. A revamped system followed in the late 1970s making accurate navigation to within a quarter of a mile, and often much better, a reality not just for boats but for aircraft as well, even in instrument flight. But now, LORAN-C could be decommissioned in the next two years to save the U.S. Coast Guard $180 million, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported. While AOPA is urging the system not be shut down so quickly, very few planes still have LORAN-C receivers installed. While LORAN-C has become nearly obsolete as planes and boats turn to GPS instead, some are calling for the LORAN-C network to remain as a backup. Covering the entire continental United States and coastal waters requires maintaining less than 20 ground stations, advocates point out.

Ballistic Recovery Systems, the maker of airframe parachutes for many general aviation aircraft, recently scored its second major defense contract. The Army recently awarded the company a $4.1 million contract for 1,200 parachutes that will allow drops of pallets of cargo under a 65-foot canopy, according to a news release from BRS. The contract could be extended for an additional 1,500 parachutes and a total value of $9.2 million. Since receiving the contract, BRS says it will start hiring more workers, bringing its total staff to 95. While BRS has been making parachutes for almost 30 years, it is new to the defense business. Its airframe parachutes have been a hallmark of every Cirrus plane; the company makes aftermarket versions for many other aircraft models as well.

Among the $789 billion in the final version of the economic stimulus bill expected to get President Obama’s signature today is $1.1 billion for airport construction projects. The FAA will divvy up the funds based on how quickly airports can start work on the projects for which they request money, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported. While Airport Improvement Program grants often require local governments to pitch in a small amount in matching funding, the grants that are part of the stimulus bill don’t have that requirement. That’s good for cities and counties, since they won’t have to come up with money on their own if their grants are selected. A separate bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week to fund the FAA for the next four years contains wording that would create a new FAA office to review complaints from whistleblowers. The agency came under fire last year when employees where reprimanded for voicing concerns about everything from maintenance to air traffic control procedures, the Federal Times reported. The whistleblower office, if created, would process and review complaints, making recommendations to the agency as needed. The $70 billion funding bill would keep the FAA running for the next four years, using increased fuel taxes to help pay for modernization programs. The bill is very similar to a 2007 funding bill that the U.S. House approved. It does not contain user fees and it is widely supported by many sectors of the aviation industry.

Piper Aircraft announced a second round of layoffs Tuesday, slashing 300 more workers from its payroll on top of the 150 positions it cut last month. The company, like many other general aviation manufacturers, says orders are coming in far slower than expected, making it unrealistic to keep production lines running at normal speeds when there are no buyers waiting for planes, the Palm Beach Post reported. The two rounds of layoffs amount to a 40-percent reduction in the number of employees at Piper since last summer. The company is bracing for a drop in sales of more than 40 percent this year compared to its original predictions. In addition to the second round of layoffs, Piper will shut its plant down for a week in April and a week in July, and the production line workers who remain have been limited to four-day work weeks. Because of the cuts, Piper is not expecting to receive nearly $11 million from local governments that it would have been eligible for under an agreement signed last year that kept the company in Vero Beach, Fla. Piper would have to have 1,166 workers on its payroll to get its money, but after this round of layoffs it will have just 650.