December 12, 2024

Duckworth’s Aviation Safety Subcommittee Emphasizes Urgent Need to Improve Air Traffic Control Systems to Prevent Near-Misses and Protect Flying Public

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator and pilot Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—Chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation—led a subcommittee hearing focused on the challenges facing our passenger aviation system amid the busy holiday travel season, where she underscored the urgent need to invest in updated air traffic control (ATC) systems and equipment to prevent near-misses and protect the flying public. This hearing comes amid the chilling surge in near-deadly close calls involving commercial airlines that is adding serious pressure to our aviation workforce and putting the safety of the flying public at risk, and after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a September report that determined a significant amount of ATC equipment was outdated, unsustainable and in urgent need of modernization. Full videos of Senator Duckworth’s opening remarks and questions are available on YouTube.

“The safety of the flying public depends upon well-equipped air traffic control systems—and right now, it is deeply troubling that more than one third of them are unsustainable,” said Aviation Safety Chair and Senator Duckworth. “While our new bipartisan FAA Reauthorization law—which I’m proud to have co-authored—makes important investments in air traffic controller staffing and surface detection technology, the alarming rise in close calls coming out of the pandemic underscores that we cannot rest on our laurels. Safety requires constant vigilance, and I’m proud to have led this important hearing to help us better understand what Congress must do to help modernize our ATC systems and ensure our air traffic controllers have the support and equipment they need to keep passengers and crew safe.”

In her opening statement during today’s hearing, Duckworth recounted multiple near-misses that occurred at airports across the country this year, underscoring the urgent need for the FAA to act swiftly to modernize ATC systems. In April, a JetBlue plane had to abort takeoff to avoid colliding with a Southwest plane on the runway—the two aircraft came within 1,000 feet of each other. In May, at the same airport, an American Airlines plane had to abort takeoff to after reaching nearly 100 miles per hour to avoid another plane that was about to land on an intersecting runway. And most recently, in September, an Alaska Airlines plane had to break so hard during its takeoff to avoid a Southwest plane that was about to cross the same runway that its tires reportedly blew out.

Last month, Duckworth held a listening session with Chicagoland members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) to hear their concerns and discuss some of the challenges our passenger aviation system faces ahead of the busy holiday travel season. Thanks to provisions that Duckworth championed in the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization law she helped co-author, FAA is working to boost air traffic controller training and staffing and grow the aviation workforce to enhance safety, grow capacity and reduce passenger delays. Additionally, the law requires FAA to deploy more airport surface situation awareness technology to help prevent runway incursions and close calls and included several of Duckworth’s provisions to improve consumer safety, expand the aviation workforce and enhance protections for travelers with disabilities.

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