David Shepherdson
WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) – A U.S. House of Representatives committee plans to vote on Thursday on legislation aimed at preventing aviation disruptions during the government shutdown by ensuring pay for air traffic controllers and other critical workers.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Tuesday it also plans to vote this week on legislation that would require the Federal Aviation Administration to approve supersonic jet transportation by April 2027.
In June, President Donald Trump directed the FAA to lift a ban on supersonic air transport over land. The ban was implemented in 1973 due to property damage and hearing loss caused by sonic booms.
Since then, environmentalists have also criticized the supersonic plane for burning more fuel per passenger than comparable subsonic aircraft, while supporters say it could cut flight time from New York to Los Angeles to less than four hours.
Major airlines have supported the air traffic controller pay legislation, noting that the 43-day U.S. government shutdown and government-imposed flight cuts have disrupted 6 million passengers and 50,000 flights due to rising air traffic controller absenteeism. On November 7, the FAA implemented unprecedented flight reductions at 40 major airports in the United States on the grounds of aviation safety, resulting in the cancellation of 7,100 flights and affecting 2.3 million passengers.
Lawmakers have urged the FAA to disclose more data about what led to the flight cuts, and the FAA has sent letters of inquiry to major airlines that appear not to be complying with flight cuts.
FAA Administrator Brian Bedford defended the decision to call for flight cuts in a letter to Congress on Tuesday, saying “data is beginning to show potential safety risks at some high-impact airports.” He added that he “believes reducing operations is the right decision during an uncertain and stressful time.”
The committee is also voting on legislation to approve moving the FBI headquarters to a building near Washington at a cost of more than $1 billion. Last month, Maryland sued the Trump administration over its decision to scrap a Biden-era plan to build a new FBI headquarters outside Washington.
(Reporting by David Shepherdson in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)