![Senate building, FAA Reauthorization, Senate Committee](https://dronelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/90-300x169.jpeg)
Ted Eytan
Copyright: This material is licensed to the general public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved the bipartisan Senate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2023. The laws, which garnered bipartisan support, encompasses a variety of measures addressing recent aviation safety concerns and goals to fortify oversight inside the aviation industry.
A Senate Commerce Committee announcement highlighted the important thing components of the bill, emphasizing its commitment to elevating aviation safety and consumer welfare. Senator Maria Cantwell, Chair of the Committee, underscored the importance of the laws, stating, “This bipartisan bill delivers improvements to aviation safety and consumer protections that Americans have been demanding.”
What’s Inside FAA Reauthorization 2023?
Among the many notable provisions outlined within the announcement is the mandate to extend the variety of FAA safety inspectors on factory floors and air traffic controllers in towers. The bill also enforces mandatory refunds for flight disruptions and prohibits airlines from imposing additional charges for families to take a seat together, addressing longstanding grievances of passengers.
Senator Ted Cruz, Rating Member of the Committee, lauded the bipartisan effort, stating, “With the aviation industry facing serious challenges, this laws charts a course to deal with lots of them while also modernizing and remodeling the FAA’s operations.”
Moreover, the laws addresses critical elements of aviation safety, including the deployment of safety technology to forestall near-misses, the implementation of 25-hour cockpit voice recorders, and the enhancement of investigations into service difficulty reports. These measures are aimed toward bolstering the integrity of aviation operations and equipping regulatory bodies with the crucial tools to conduct thorough investigations.
Along with enhancing safety measures, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023 prioritizes consumer protections, setting refund standards for non-refundable tickets and increasing the validity of airline vouchers to 5 years. The bill also triples fines for airline consumer violations and establishes a dedicated Office of Consumer Protection on the Department of Transportation, aimed toward safeguarding the interests of passengers.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, Chair of the Aviation Safety Subcommittee, expressed satisfaction with the bill’s give attention to safety and accessibility, stating, “I’m so proud that this bill includes lots of my priorities—including my EVAC Act and a provision that upholds strong pilot certification standards—to assist make flying safer and more accessible for all Americans.”
Drones and Innovation
Furthermore, the laws seeks to foster innovation inside the aviation industry by allocating funding for the Essential Air Service Program, doubling funding for the Small Community Air Service program, and creating pathways for the certification of emerging technologies equivalent to air taxis and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
For the drone industry, the precise timeline for a ruling on BVLOS flight is a critical element within the Reauthorization package.
The passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023 by the Senate Committee is a final step towards passage of the Bill. The present FAA authorization expired at the tip of September: two subsequent extensions have providing funding for the agency until March.
Read more: