Chicago City Wire

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, released the following statement after H.R. 3935, Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation (SGRLAA), the bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs was passed in committee this week:

“This reauthorization markup was a missed opportunity to build a fairer, more resilient aviation system for workers and consumers alike. It fails to strengthen environmental protections that were recently undermined in the debt limit deal.

“Our country has a pilot shortage, and this bill takes the wrong approach to addressing it. While the bill improves workforce development and expands talent pipelines in underrepresented communities, it does not go nearly far enough in addressing the root causes of this shortage. Instead, this package seeks a quick fix by raising the retirement age for pilots and replaces pilot training in planes with simulators. 

“This bill does little to stop our largest airlines from engaging in anti-competitive practices that impact safety and hurt consumers. 

“The debt limit deal undermined a number of our foundational environmental protections — including environmental review processes for infrastructure projects and expansions at airports. This bill goes further and excludes more FAA activities from review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Midway Airport is in my district, and my constituents live right across the street. The communities like the one I represent that will be the first to feel the impacts of these weakened environmental standards. 

“Still, I am pleased that this bill includes a few of my priorities.

• Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellation Act which codifies the Department of Transportation’s authority to require major airlines to give passengers a cash refund if the airline cancels or significantly delays their flight, and creates a new provision to give  consumers the right to receive a cash refund if the passenger cancels their flight up to 48 hours ahead of the flight’s scheduled departure. 
• Fair and Open Skies Act to prevent new foreign airlines from exploiting ‘flags of convenience,’ wherein a company sites its operations in a country with weak labor standards and safety regulations rather than in its country of origin in order to gain an unfair competitive advantage in the market.
• Cabin Air Safety Act which prevents airline pilots, flight attendants, and passengers from toxic cabin air. The legislation would establish air quality standards and assist with the monitoring, reporting, and investigating of these ‘toxic’ fumes events. 
• Global Aircraft Maintenance Safety Improvement Act to uphold America’s aviation safety leadership by improving safety standards and oversight of foreign aircraft repair stations used by many domestic carriers. 
• Requires all airlines to submit employee assault prevention and response plans that include airport workers such as ticket agents.

“It was a tough decision, but I chose to support this package with the hope and expectation that a number of my concerns with this iteration of the bill will be addressed in the Senate markup and later efforts in the House. I will continue to work to make sure that we pass the Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, have a final bill that delivers the investments airports like Midway and O’Hare need, improves the passenger experience, betters conditions for workers, and creates stronger environmental protections for a more sustainable aviation system.” 

Original source can be found here.