— President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announce a new push to compensate airline passengers.
— States that adopt California’s zero-emission vehicle mandate could lose a combined $49 billion in gas tax receipts.
— Labor unions urged Senate Commerce leaders against expanding federal preemptions related to aircraft operations in the FAA bill.
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FIGHT FOR FLIGHT RIGHTS: Biden and Buttigieg are expanding the administration’s effort to improve the flying experience ahead of a busy summer travel season and Southwest Airlines’ holiday season meltdown, announcing Monday that they will initiate a rulemaking process that could require airlines to provide compensation in addition to refunds, including a meal or meal voucher, overnight accommodations, ground transportation to and from the hotel, and rebooking along with timely customer service during and after periods of widespread flight irregularities. The expanded refunds would apply in instances where the airline is responsible for the delay or cancellation. Alex has more.
— DOT will also announce an expanded Airline Customer Service Dashboard that shows which airlines currently offer cash compensation, provide travel credits or vouchers, or award frequent flyer miles and cover the costs for hotels and other amenities. The White House said that the new website will show “that virtually no airlines offer compensation on top of refunds or amenities.”
“When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “This rule would, for the first time in U.S. history, propose to require airlines to compensate passengers and cover expenses such as meals, hotels, and rebooking in cases where the airline has caused a cancellation or significant delay.”
LOST REVENUES: States that are poised to follow California in its zero-emission vehicle mandate could lose a combined $49 billion in federal and state gas tax revenues, according to researchers at Berkeley Research Group. Seventeen states have historically aligned their clean air policies with California but two of those — Pennsylvania and Delaware — were not included in the BGR analysis because they may go their own way on the clean vehicle sales mandate. California has pledged to ban sales of new gas-powered vehicles — by 2035 for light-duty vehicles and 2045 for medium-and heavy-duty vehicles.
— Many states charge an annual fee to electric vehicle owners to make up for the lost gas tax revenue. As gas taxes continue to decline absent a structural fix to the tax structure, electric vehicles that use the roads without paying into the road system will present a tempting target for lawmakers looking to recoup foregone revenues.
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PREEMPTION FIGHT: A coalition of labor unions wrote to Senate Commerce Committee leaders arguing that federal preemptions for aircraft operations shouldn’t be expanded in the FAA bill. The letter, signed by most of the major pilot and flight attendant unions, argued that efforts “to confuse the FAA’s safety authority in order to broadly envelop the clear rights of the state to set labor policy under our federalized political system is without merit, fanciful, and will invite our unwavering opposition.”
— A host of aviation industry groups are in favor of expanding federal preemption as it relates to aviation and want a clear declaration of the FAA’s supreme authority as drones and air taxis becoming more ubiquitous. But the unions argue that any attempt to expand FAA preemptions to include “operations” would undermine state and local labor laws, such as California’s rest rules for flight attendants. The preemption fight is playing out as part of the FAA bill, with potential wide-ranging impacts (even if they don’t get as much Beltway media attention as the long haul slot fight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport).
ACCESSIBILITY ON THE MENU: Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) on Friday dropped a bill that would strengthen accessibility regulations for airlines — and considering their bipartisan seniority, there’s a good chance its provisions could end up in the Senate’s FAA bill. The bill would order up a rulemaking requiring global airlines to publish cargo hold dimensions and collect more data when airlines damage mobility equipment, among other items. Alex has more.
LET’S GET THIS BREAD: There’s bipartisan support for making it easier for prospective pilots and aircraft mechanics to start their careers — and a bill by Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), H.R. 1818 (118), would change the tax code to make educational expenses at pilot and maintenance training programs a qualified expense for federal college saving plans, and the bill is winning supporters on the Hill.
— The bill is cosponsored by House Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Ways and Means members, and it also has the support of Airlines for America and the Air Line Pilots Association, along with other aviation industry and labor interests. Collins said the bill gives prospective pilots and aviation mechanics “the same tools as those seeking four-year degrees with zero increased cost to taxpayers.”
INCURSION ACTION: NTSB announced it will hold a public roundtable on runway incursions on May 23 after an uptick in near misses prompted an FAA response. The NTSB is investigating six incursion events so far in 2023, and the roundtable will include safety experts from the aviation industry, labor, and government.
— NTSB argued during a recent FAA safety summit that the FAA has slow-walked some safety recommendations over cost concerns and objections from the aviation industry. Chair Jennifer Homendy said she hopes it will “spur meaningful, immediate action on the areas where we’re stalled.”
CUTS HAVE A PRICE: Outgoing Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen sent his agency’s air traffic controller workforce plan to appropriators on Friday, and he included an additional letter warning that proposed House GOP spending cuts would “wreak havoc on summer air travel.” The warning dovetails with ongoing concerns from DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the effects of the proposed spending cuts, which are highly unlikely to make it into law, on various modes of transportation.
SIDES ON RAIL SAFETY: More than 90 state, regional and local groups urged lawmakers to take a “targeted approach” when considering new rail safety legislation in a letter addressed to Senate Commerce and House Transportation committee leaders. The groups, which include regional Chambers of Commerce and various state trade associations, asked Congress to “focus strictly on policies demonstrated to improve accident prevention and response, and not to include extraneous mandates or other requirements not linked directly to safety, such as a federal train crew size mandate.”
— The letter aligns with major freight railroads, and comes as the Senate Commerce Committee gears up for a Thursday markup of S. 576 (118), the rail safety bill led by Ohio Sens. J.D. Vance and Sherrod Brown, which includes a two-person minimum crew mandate. The House has a rail safety bill led by the Ohio House delegation that does not mandate a crew minimum, with bill co-lead Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) arguing the Vance-Brown proposal includes provisions that wouldn’t make it through the House.
TALKING SUPPLY CHAIN: The House Transportation Committee is all about the supply chain this week. The Highways and Transit subcommittee will hear from OOIDA, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and other witnesses at a hearing Wednesday on trucking’s role in “overcoming supply chain challenges.” And the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials subcommittee will hold a hearing Thursday on freight rail’s role in the supply chain with witnesses including representatives from the Association of American Railroads, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO and others.
OUT WITH THE OLD: The Federal Transit Administration will grant six projects around $703 million under the Rail Vehicle Replacement Program, which was created under the 2021 infrastructure law to invest in safety, service and customer experience on subways, commuter rail and light rail. The program’s first set of projects include $200 million to the Chicago Transit Authority to buy up to 300 new electric passenger rail cars; $196.3 million to the St. Louis Metro public transportation operator to replace light rail vehicles near the end of their lives; and $71.7 million to the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority to replace a third of its fleet. See the full project selection list here.
JOBS DAY: The U.S. transportation sector saw a 3.8 percent unemployment rate in April, just above April 2022’s 3.6 percent rate and the pre-pandemic 3.7 percent rate in April 2019. The transportation unemployment rate was slightly worse than overall U.S. unemployment, which landed at 3.1 percent last month. Still, it’s a marked improvement from deep in the pandemic, which felt a peak transportation unemployment rate of 15.7 percent in summer 2020.
— “Rooftop gardens pitched for bus stops as cheap remedy to NYC’s flood problems.” Gothamist.
— “Eric Adams attacked for subway safety approach after killing of Jordan Neely.” POLITICO.
— “2022 in review: A year of federal climate investments.” Atlas Public Policy.
