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☆ US Senate panel to hold March 8 hearing on FAA reform efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday said it would hold a March 8 hearing on efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reform how it certifies new airplanes after two Boeing 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people. Congress in 2020 passed sweeping reforms to address FAA certification efforts after the fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 raised safety questions about the agency's airplane certification program. The FAA in January named a panel to review Boeing’s safety management processes and how they influence the company's safety culture. The FAA in September finalized a policy to protect aviation employees who perform government certification duties from interference by Boeing and others. The FAA continues to subject Boeing to enhanced oversight, inspecting all new Boeing 737 MAXs and 787s before they can be delivered.

☆ Buttigieg urges U.S. railroads to boost safety, not oppose reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/7] Drone footage shows the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., February 6, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a handout video released by the NTSB. Buttigieg said he would soon outline specific safety improvements railroads should take immediately. He harshly criticized them for lobbying against steps "intended to improve rail safety and to help keep Americans safe." Buttigieg said he also planned to outline "prioritized actions planned" by the U.S. Department of Transportation on rail safety. In response to the derailment, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell Friday opened an inquiry into railroad hazardous materials safety practices.

☆ U.S. senator asks railroad CEOs to answer questions on hazardous shipments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said on Friday she was opening an inquiry into railroad hazardous materials safety practices after a Feb. 3 Ohio derailment of a train operated by Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) raised new concerns. Cantwell wrote the chief executives of Norfolk Southern, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), Canadian National (CNR.TO), Canadian Pacific (CP.TO), CSX (CSX.O), Kansas City Southern, and Union Pacific (UNP.N) seeking information to help determine how to improve safety. "Every railroad must reexamine its hazardous materials safety practices to better protect its employees, the environment, and American families and reaffirm safety as a top priority," Cantwell wrote. Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The derailment of the train, operated by Norfolk Southern (NSC.N), forced thousands of residents to evacuate while railroad crews drained and burned off chemicals. “We have mobilized a robust, multi-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing. [1/3] A view of a caution tape as members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (not pictured) inspect the site of a train derailment of hazardous material in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., February 16, 2023. DeWine called on Congress to review railroad safety regulations, lamenting states have little power to demand information about what types of hazardous goods are rolling through their borders. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday more needs to be done to address rail safety in the face of hundreds of annual train derailments.

☆ U.S. senators question rail oversight after toxic Ohio derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Two Republican senators sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday questioning U.S. freight rail system oversight in the aftermath of a toxic train derailment in Ohio on Feb. 3. Vance questioned Buttigieg about railroad safety, saying "it is not unreasonable to ask whether a crew of two rail workers, plus one trainee, is able to effectively monitor 150 cars." The Department of Transportation (USDOT) did not immediately comment but Buttigieg addressed the criticism in a series of tweets. Buttigieg responded to Cruz on Twitter that "we could start by discussing immediate steps Congress could take to address rail safety & reduce constraints on USDOT in this area. After railroad crews drained and burned off a toxic chemical from five tanker cars, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Feb. 8 said that residents could return to their homes.

☆ FAA chief tells Senate that new procedures will avoid repeat of outage that halted U.S. flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Senate Commerce Committee hearing comes amid growing safety concerns about aviation safety after several close calls involving major U.S. airlines. The system failed when a contractor unintentionally deleted files during an update, the FAA has said. "After the incident, we implemented a synchronization delay to ensure that bad data from a database cannot affect a backup database," Nolen said in prepared remarks ahead of the hearing. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the committee's highest-ranking Republican, pressed Nolen on improvements to the NOTAM system: "Can a single screwup ground air traffic nationwide?" Nolen replied: "Could I sit here and tell you there will never be an issue on the NOTAM system?

☆ Lawmakers show rare bipartisan unity in pursuing protections for kids online
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee found rare alignment at a recent hearing about how Congress can help protect kids from online harms. They're speaking out in support of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would require sites likely to be accessed by kids 16 or younger to maintain certain privacy and safety protections by default. "We must and we will double down on the Kids Online Safety Act," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said at the hearing. Though lawmakers have shared similar goals in other discussions around regulating tech, when it comes to protecting kids online, they're more united in the types of action they want to see take place. However, a bill that recently passed the state's House of Representatives removed that provision, instead allowing for consumers to sue social media companies that knowingly cause harm.

☆ Acting FAA Administrator to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on computer outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailActing FAA Administrator to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on computer outageCNBC's Phil Lebeau joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the acting FAA's testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee today.

☆ FAA chief gets grilled by Congress for recent airline groundings and safety concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Gregory Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

In a letter to Congress in early February, the FAA said it plans to dramatically accelerate replacing its outdated Notice To Air Missions (NOTAM) safety system, whose failure led to a nationwide air travel grounding in January. A contractor working for the FAA unintentionally deleted files related to the key pilot safety system, the FAA said. The near collisions have also raised concerns that the FAA’s safety systems may be insufficient. “Can I sit here today and tell you that there will never be another issue on the NOTAM system? That near collision happened after air traffic controllers cleared the FedEx Boeing 767 to land on Austin’s Runway 18 Left, according to the FAA.

☆ Senators press U.S. FAA on recent airplane near miss incidents
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Michael A. McCoyWASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - U.S. senators on Wednesday raised concerns about a string of recent near miss airplane incidents with the acting Federal Aviation Administration head as well as about a FAA computer system outage that snarled thousands of flights last month. They impact Americans confidence in our aviation system," said Senate Commerce chair Maria Cantwell at Wednesday's hearing. "The FAA must have redundancies, and not a single point where a failure can happen in a key system." Cruz asked if new FAA safeguards remove the risk of a similar single point of failure. On Tuesday, Nolen said he was launching a safety review after the recent near miss incidents raised questions about the U.S. aviation system.

☆ Republican FTC Commissioner Wilson announces resignation, saying Chair Khan has a 'disregard for the rule of law'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Christine Wilson, nominee to serve on the Federal Trade Commission, testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing in Hart Building on February 14, 2018. Christine Wilson, the sole remaining Republican on the Federal Trade Commission, announced Tuesday she plans to resign, citing what she said was Democratic Chair Lina Khan's "disregard for the rule of law and due process." Wilson announced her resignation, which she said will come "soon," in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Throughout Khan's tenure at the helm of the commission, Wilson has frequently bemoaned her approach in remarks at public meetings and in speeches. Former Commissioner Noah Joshua Phillips, a Republican, resigned in October, but without the kind of broad critique that Wilson wrote.

☆ Republican senators want Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott to stop their 'petty bickering': 'Can't we all just get along?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott are feuding over the Florida Republican's "12 point plan" yet again. "I don't think we need petty bickering within the Republican conference," said Sen. Cruz of Texas. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images"They're good at that," observed Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, referring to Biden's use of the plan. mused Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah on Twitter over the weekend. "If you want to go out and say that you want to change Social Security and Medicare, go right ahead," said Hawley.

☆ Biden telecom board nominee says industry out to block her from position
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Gigi Sohn, who was nominated in October 2021, will have her third hearing for the job before the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday. Her written remarks said she will seek to answer the question, "Why am I still President Biden’s nominee for the 5th seat on the FCC?" In July 2021, Biden signed an executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the open internet net neutrality rules. Republicans have questioned Sohn's role as a board member of a nonprofit that operated a transmission service called Locast. "The work of the Commission - from net neutrality to closing the digital divide - is too important for this nomination to be delayed any further," said Senator Ed Markey.

☆ Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott on his relationship with Mitch McConnell after a failed challenge to lead Senate Republicans: 'Well, he just kicked me off a committee. So that was pretty petty.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Rick Scott said it was "petty" of Sen. Mitch McConnell to take him off the Commerce Committee. McConnell in a separate Fox News interview denied retaliation and said he had "no animus toward Rick Scott at all." And I gave it to two other senators, no particular reprisal in mind, no animus toward Rick Scott at all," he added. "That was the Scott plan. That was the Rick Scott plan.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) on Thursday faced harsh criticism from U.S. senators at a hearing investigating the airline's meltdown that disrupted travel plans for 2 million customers, with one lawmaker calling the situation an "unmitigated disaster." While Southwest cited weather impacts, the union singled out poor preparation and a failure to modernize technology. Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen called it an "unmitigated disaster" that had a "devastating impact on families." Watterson said it has received about 284,000 cases from passengers impacted by meltdown and reimbursed more than 273,000 -- leaving 10,782. Cantwell said Southwest Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan, who had been invited to the hearing, "didn't want to show up."

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) faced harsh criticism from U.S. senators at a hearing on Thursday investigating the airline's meltdown that disrupted travel plans for 2 million customers. The airline and its pilot union offered sharply contrasting reasons for the low-cost carrier's massive travel disruptions. While Southwest cited weather impacts, the union singled out poor preparation and a failure to modernize technology. Cantwell said Southwest Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan, who had been invited to the hearing, "didn't want to show up." The meltdown caused the cancellation of almost 17,000 flights and is estimated to have cost the airline more than $1 billion.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) faced harsh criticism from U.S. senators at a hearing on Thursday investigating the airline's meltdown that disrupted travel plans for 2 million customers. Senator Ted Cruz, the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, called the cancellation of more than 16,000 flights "an epic screwup." While Southwest cited weather impacts, the union singled out poor preparation and a failure to modernize technology. Cantwell said Southwest Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan, who had been invited to the hearing, "didn't want to show up." Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), said that the union has been sounding the alarm about the carrier's crew scheduling technology and "outdated" operational processes for years.

☆ Live updates: Southwest Airlines executive testifies before the Senate Commerce Committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Chris Isidore | Aditi Sangal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Fixes to the Southwest Airlines' crew scheduling system that failed spectacularly during the service meltdown in December will be live "tomorrow," said Andrew Watterson, Southwest's chief operating officer, during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Thursday. "With regard to this event, our crew scheduling system had a particular fault," Watterson said. "Tomorrow, the fix will go in, it will be live on our production system. But Watterson cautioned the scheduling system was not the only thing that failed and caused the problems. "We believe our winter operations resiliency was the root cause, and that will take longer to address," he said.

☆ Southwest faces Senate hearing over holiday travel chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Passengers check in for a Southwest Airlines Co. flight inside Terminal 1 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on August 10, 2022. Southwest Airlines ' chief operations officer is scheduled to face questions from a Senate panel on Thursday over the carrier's December meltdown that stranded thousands of passengers over the holidays. Andrew Watterson plans to apologize for the travel chaos before the Senate Commerce Committee. The president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Casey Murray, will tell the panel that the carrier ignored warning signs about its operation, according to written testimony reviewed by CNBC. Core values were forgotten," Casey Murray said in written testimony ahead of Thursday's hearing.

☆ Southwest explains its meltdown to Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Gregory Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —Congress is set to receive new evidence Thursday of internal chaos at Southwest Airlines over the Christmas holiday meltdown. The Senate Commerce committee is set to question Southwest executive Andrew Watterson, alongside Southwest pilot union president Casey Murray, Sharon Pinkerton of the Airlines for America trade group, Paul Hudson of Flyers’ Rights, and economist Clifford Winston of The Brookings Institution. It’s a mess down here.”A photograph of the message, which shows the extent of the airline’s breakdown, is included in testimony the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association union, SWAPA, plans to present at the hearing. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan apologized and the airline offered reimbursements for passengers’ costs, along with bonus points. The union criticized the airline for giving executives stock options in the wake of the meltdown while employees lost profit sharing pay because of the airline’s financial hit due to the meltdown.

☆ Southwest plans to tell Senate it's confident in its schedule after holiday meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Southwest Airlines plans to apologize before a Senate panel on Thursday over the carrier's December meltdown that stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers around Christmas. "In hindsight, we did not have enough winter operational resilience," Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said in written testimony, which was reviewed by CNBC, ahead of Senate Commerce Committee hearing. The debacle made for an $800 million pretax hit and drove the carrier to a net loss last quarter. Watterson plans to tell the committee that the carrier has made short-term improvements to communicate more easily with crews when things go wrong and has improved tools that keep track of the operation's stability. With those mitigation tools, "we are confident in our flight network and the schedules we have published for sale," Watterson plans to say, according to the testimony.

☆ Southwest pilots detail the Christmas meltdown chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Gregory Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Congress is set to receive new evidence Thursday of internal chaos at Southwest Airlines over the Christmas holiday meltdown. It’s a mess down here.”A photograph of the message, which shows the extent of the airline’s breakdown, is included in testimony the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association union, SWAPA, plans to present at a Senate Commerce committee hearing. “No updates here,” another cockpit computer message to pilots read. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan apologized and the airline offered reimbursements for passengers’ costs, along with bonus points. The union criticized the airline for giving executives stock options in the wake of the meltdown while employees lost profit sharing pay because of the airline’s financial hit due to the meltdown.

☆ Southwest CEO Jordan finds himself in eye of storm after airline's holiday debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Rajesh Kumar Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

CHICAGO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines Co's (LUV.N) CEO, faces the biggest challenge yet in his 35-year career at the airline that has built a customer-friendly reputation. Southwest's struggles reached a notable low on Jan. 28 when comedy sketch TV show "Saturday Night Live" lampooned the Dallas-based airline's technology and service. The carrier will now answer to U.S. Congress on Thursday when Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson testifies before the Senate Commerce Committee. In October, Jordan, who started his career at Southwest in 1988 as a computer programmer, put Watterson in charge of the airline's operations. Last week, Jordan also named a chief information officer who will help manage the airline's technology investments, upgrades and system maintenance.

☆ U.S. Senate panel sets new hearing for Biden telecom nominee
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pete Marovich/Pool via REUTERSWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday set a third confirmation hearing for the Biden administration’s nominee to a seat on the Federal Communications Commission that has been vacant for more than two years. President Joe Biden last month renominated Gigi Sohn, a former FCC senior official under President Barack Obama, to serve as a commissioner. Biden first nominated Sohn in October 2021 but she was not confirmed despite hearings in 2021 and 2022. The Senate Commerce Committee said Tuesday she would appear at a hearing on Feb. 14. In July 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the rules.

☆ Southwest faces Senate hearing next week following holiday meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

John and Lori Ingoldsby, who drove to Denver after the first leg of their flight on Southwest Airlines was canceled, wait for a flight to finish their trip at Denver International Airport on December 28, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. Southwest Airlines ' chief operating officer, Andrew Watterson, will face questions from a Senate panel next Thursday about the carrier's holiday meltdown that stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers. Southwest said the hearing date overlapped with "a previous commitment" for CEO Bob Jordan. The incident has drawn increased scrutiny from Washington and capped a year of on-and-off disruptions in air travel, due to bad weather, staffing and technology issues. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the committee chair, had previously said she planned to hold a hearing on flight disruptions following Southwest's holiday travel chaos.

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