TRAVEL NEWS FROM DOT
“Congress has acted quickly to protect states from the pain of a funding shortfall, but the fundamental problems that plague the nation’s transportation system are far from healed. Congress must now address the pressing need for meaningful reforms to the way we raise and invest transportation funds with the same bipartisan spirit and energy as it did in voting for these additional resources.”
WASHINGTON, DC – The Federal Highway Administration announced today that it did not approve an application from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to place tolls on Interstate 80. The agency said the planned use of toll revenues does not meet federal requirements as there is no basis to conclude that the proposed lease payments are legitimate operating costs.
“Tolling interstates is a viable option for many states to fund highway improvements or to improve performance conditions,” Highway Administrator Tom Madison said. “Because we are legally bound to ensure applications for this program meet all congressionally mandated requirements, however, we are regrettably unable to approve this application.”
The revised application seeking tolling authority under the Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program was submitted to the Federal Highway Administration on July 22, 2008. Under the proposal, PennDOT would transfer I-80 to the Turnpike Commission and make payments.
The Federal Highway Administration said the Commonwealth’s application did not meet legal requirements for the correct use of toll revenue. Specifically, the application called for the Turnpike Commission to use toll revenue to pay annual lease payments to PennDOT. The federal agency noted that while under the program toll revenue can be used for lease payments, the amount of the payment is required to be based on an objective market valuation.
The Commission’s application, however, included no information or data justifying the proposed amount for the annual toll payment or establishing that the level was based on an objective market valuation. The agency noted that earlier this year it had asked for just such justification as it reviewed the tolling application. The Commission, however, sent no additional information supporting the lease payment level, the agency said.
“There is simply no evidence that the lease payments are related to the actual costs of acquiring an interest in the facility,” explained Administrator Madison. “Although we are unable to move the application forward, we stand ready to assist the Commonwealth in finding creative ways to address its transportation needs.”
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters today directed the Federal Aviation Administration to implement 13 new safety recommendations from an independent review team tasked with reviewing the current U.S. aviation safety system.
“The mark of an effective safety system is its ability to constantly improve and adapt. Today, the Independent Review Team has delivered a blueprint that will assure continued safe skies ahead for America,” Secretary Peters said.
The Secretary said the team’s report confirms the basic approach to aviation safety in the United States has generated unprecedented results, but that there are ways to make the system even safer. She said the 13 recommendations in the report “will improve both the intensity and the integrity of the FAA’s safety program,” and that the agency will begin implementing the recommendations immediately.
A key recommendation by the review team, Secretary Peters committed that the FAA will have guidance in place by the end of the year to ensure that airworthiness directives and their deadlines are fully understood by all appropriate FAA officials and airlines.
Another recommendation called for more rigorous and systematic oversight of the FAA’s voluntary disclosure program. The Secretary noted that the FAA has changed its procedures to require senior managers to review voluntary disclosure reports. She said that moving forward, FAA also will implement use of a new automated data system to help track and ensure compliance.
The Independent Review Team also recommended
new safeguards against FAA personnel developing “overly cozy” relationships
with the airlines they regulate through regular audits of field offices
where the managerial team has been in place for more than three years. “The
intent is clear: make sure everyone understands that the only customer that
matters in the end is the flying public,” Secretary Peters said.
Consistent with recommendations to improve the FAA’s safety culture, the
Secretary also charged the agency with developing, and having underway
within six months, a new training program for safety managers and
inspectors.
By this time next year, the Secretary announced, the FAA will also have the
results of the recommended study of the right balance between the time
inspectors spend inputting and analyzing data and the time they spend in the
field. “Understanding safety data is essential, but making sure it is
accurate is vital,” the Secretary said.
Members of the Independent Review Team include Ambassador Edward W. Stimpson, who served as chairman; J. Randolph Babbitt; William O. McCabe; Malcolm K. Sparrow; and the Hon. Carl W. Vogt.
The access the Independent Review Team’s full report, go to www.dot.gov/affairs/IRT_Report.pdf.
###
The Independent Review Team’s 13 Aviation
Safety Recommendations
Recommendation 1: The FAA should retain the right to ground any plane not in compliance with an applicable AD. Inspectors should not be required or expected to conduct any type of risk-assessment before taking action on AD non-compliance.
ACCEPTED – FAA’s ongoing review of AD compliance will address inspector requirements and expectations. The full AD review program will be implemented by December 30, 2008.
Recommendation 2: The FAA should provide timely information about new AD
requirements, in advance of compliance dates, to all relevant FAA field
offices. Those offices should then be responsive to any carrier that
requests assistance in the form of progress-towards-compliance audits or
reviews, in advance of the AD compliance dates.
ACCEPTED – FAA’s ongoing review of AD compliance will address information dissemination and carrier requests among others. The full AD review program will be implemented by December 30, 2008.
Recommendation 3: The FAA’s Voluntary Programs are vitally important to the
future of aviation safety, and should be retained. [Main report paragraph
5.1]
ACCEPTED – The FAA will continue to enhance its Voluntary Disclosure Programs.
Recommendation 4: The FAA must abide by the rules circumscribing these
programs in order to prevent the erosion of compliance.
ACCEPTED – The FAA will immediately reinforce the importance of these rules and require higher-level management review of all disclosures.
Recommendation 5: Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program (VDRP) data have
not been routinely analyzed at a higher level within the FAA. There are two
quite different purposes for such analysis, both of which the FAA should
formally recognize.
ACCEPTED – Data from many sources can be used to make sure these programs are operating effectively. The FAA will immediately begin implementation of a program to gather and analyze this data.
Recommendation 6: The number of voluntary disclosures made by a regulated
entity is a composite measure, and should not be used either as a
performance metric or as a risk-factor, in any context.
ACCEPTED – The FAA will review its risk assessment tools and eliminate areas where there is an incentive to drive down the number of disclosures. This review will be completed and implemented by December 30, 2008.
Recommendation 7: It is clear to the IRT that participation in all of the
voluntary disclosure programs is dependent on the assurance of
confidentiality for information submitted. The IRT believes the FAA should
resist any efforts to relax or eliminate any restrictions on disclosure.
ACCEPTED – This is fundamental to the future of these programs and FAA will stress the importance with all constituencies.
Recommendation 8: The FAA should explicitly focus on wide divergences in
regulatory ideologies, where they exist, as a source for potentially serious
error.
ACCEPTED – To be implemented by December 30, 2008.
Recommendation 9: Training for Managers and Principal Inspectors should
explicitly cover the management of contrasting regulatory views within the
workforce, methods for moderating extremes in regulatory style, and methods
for optimizing the regulatory effectiveness and coherence across a diverse
team of inspectors.
ACCEPTED – To be implemented by March 31, 2009.
Recommendation 10: The FAA should deploy the Internal Assistance Capability
(IAC), recently established, to review the composition and conduct of any
offices or teams identified under recommendation one above.
ACCEPTED – To be implemented by June 30, 2009.
Recommendation 11: The FAA should also deploy the IAC on a routine basis to
review the culture and conduct of any CMO where the managerial team has
remained intact for more than three years.
ACCEPTED – To be implemented by September 30, 2009.
Recommendation 12: The IRT would urge the FAA to embrace its own
operational role in risk identification and risk mitigation as formally and
energetically as it has embraced its role in overseeing industry’s SMS
implementations; and to expedite its implementation planning in this area.
ACCEPTED – The FAA will develop and implement its own internal safety management system before the end of 2010.
Recommendation 13: We recommend that without delay the FAA commission a
time-and-motion study of its front-line inspection operation, to empirically
assess the time-demands of ATOS and other IT implementations. With the
results of such a study in hand, agency leadership should establish some
clear expectations regarding the proportion of an inspector’s work-week that
data-entry, data-analysis, and other computer-related tasks should
reasonably consume, and monitor progress towards more reasonable ratios as
ATOS and other IT systems are improved over time.
ACCEPTED – The study will commence in March 2009 and be completed within one year. Timeframe for implementation will depend on the recommendations.
Airline On-Time Performance Improves in July
Flights operated by the nation’s largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate this past July than in both the previous month and July 2007, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 75.7 percent in July, higher than both July 2007’s 69.8 percent and June 2008’s 70.8 percent.
The monthly report also includes data on flight cancellations and the causes of flight delays, as well as information on reports of mishandled baggage filed with the carriers and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. This report also includes reports of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by U.S. carriers.
Cancellations
The consumer report includes BTS data on the number of domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In July, the carriers canceled 1.7 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than both the 2.1 percent cancellation rate of July 2007 and the 1.8 percent rate posted in June 2008.
Causes of Flight Delays
In July, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 7.78 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 10.16 percent in June; 7.17 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 8.86 percent in June; 6.30 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 6.78 percent in June; 1.01 percent by extreme weather, compared to 1.14 percent in June; and 0.05 percent for security reasons, the same percentage as June. Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category. This includes delays due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in that category.
Data collected by BTS also shows the percentage of late flights delayed by weather, including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System delays. In July, 44.37 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up 2.83 percent from July 2007, when 43.15 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and down 6.02 percent from June when 47.21 percent of late flights were delayed by weather.
Detailed information on flight delays and their causes is available on the BTS site on the World Wide Web at http://www.bts.gov.
Mishandled Baggage
The U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.86 reports per 1,000 passengers in July, an improvement over both July 2007’s rate of 7.96 and June 2008’s 5.15 rate.
In July, carriers reported six incidents involving pets while traveling by air, up from five incidents in June. The July incidents involved four deaths, one injury and one lost pet.
Complaints About Airline Service
In July, the department received 1,093 complaints about airline service from consumers, down 36.4 percent from the 1,720 complaints filed in July 2007 but 24.1 percent more than the total of 881 received in June 2008.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in July against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 65 disability-related complaints in July, up 38.3 percent from the 47 filed in July 2007 and more than double the 27 complaints received in June 2008.
Complaints About Discrimination
In July, the Department received nine complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or sex – down from the total of 15 complaints received in July 2007 but up from the total of eight received in June 2008.
Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590; by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511; or on the web at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.
Consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline’s reservation number or their travel agent. This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents.
The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s World Wide Web site at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov. It is available in “pdf” and Microsoft Word format.
-END-
AIR TRAVEL CONSUMER REPORT
July 2008
KEY ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AND
FLIGHT CANCELLATION STATISTICS
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics
by the 19 Reporting Carriers
Overall
75.7 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time Arrival Rates
Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates
Most Frequently Delayed Flights
1. Comair flight 5292 from Minneapolis/St. Paul to New York JFK – late 100 percent of the time
1. Comair flight 5614 from Charlotte, NC to New York JFK – late 100 percent of the time
1. Comair flight 5491 from Albany, NY to New York JFK – late 100 percent of the time
1. Comair flight 5739 from New York JFK to Pittsburgh – late 100 percent of the time
5. Comair flight 5440 from Washington Dulles to New York JFK – late 96.77 percent of the time
Highest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Comair – 4.5 percent
2. United Airlines – 3.2 percent
3. JetBlue Airways – 3.2 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Frontier Airlines – 0.2 percent
2. Northwest Airlines – 0.6 percent
3. Southwest Airlines – 0.6 percent
U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 0.1 percent more workers in June 2008 than in June 2007, the 17th consecutive increase in full-time equivalent employee (FTE) levels for the scheduled passenger carriers from the same month of the previous year but the smallest year-to-year increase since a decrease in January 2007, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported today.
A news release and summary tables can be found at www.bts.gov. More information on airline employment and data from previous years are posted on the BTS website at http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/number_of_employees/
The federal government is making $1 million available immediately in emergency relief funds for Wisconsin to help pay for urgent repairs to roads and bridges damaged by floods, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today.
“We're making this down payment to help restore essential traffic routes so people can get back to their lives and businesses can begin to recover,” Secretary Peters said.
Secretary Peters said the $1 million quick release was intended to help Wisconsin begin restoring roads that were washed out from the floods, including County Trunk Highway that provides access to Sauk County’s Lake Delton, an important tourist destination and revenue generator for the region.
The Secretary added that the Department would continue to work with officials from Wisconsin and other Midwestern states as they assess the extent of road damage caused by the floods. She said more resources will likely be made available based on those evaluations.
The Federal Highway Administration's emergency relief program provides funds to states for the repair or reconstruction of federal-aid highways damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events. The program typically works on a reimbursable basis.
In June, the Department provided a $1 million quick release to Iowa as well to repair damage from the Midwest floods.
“We’re committed to bringing back essential transportation links after a
natural disaster strikes,” FHWA Acting Administrator Jim Ray said.
WASHINGTON — Unscrupulous interstate moving companies that violate federal consumer protection and safety regulations will continue to be targeted for investigations and prosecutions by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which today announced the results of a recently concluded strike force investigation involving nearly 350 moving companies located in 13 states and the District of Columbia. In all, 1,140 violations of federal regulations were recorded, resulting in nearly $325,000 in assessed fines.
“Interstate movers with fraudulent or rogue operations are hereby put on notice: federal investigators will be knocking on your door in the future and you will face serious legal and financial consequences,” FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill said. “During this strike force alone, six companies received federal fines in excess of $27,000.”
From May 5, 2008, through May 16, 2008, FMCSA, in cooperation with state
law enforcement and consumer protection agencies, conducted focused
compliance reviews on carriers hired to transport consumers’ personal
property across state lines. For a list of companies cited during the strike
force, see
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hhg-2008-05-results.
The strike force targeted states that received the most complaints in the
National Household Goods Consumer Complaint database (http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov).
In fiscal year 2007, FMCSA received nearly 4,000 complaints.
The compliance reviews were conducted by federal investigators in Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.
“We owe much of our success to our state partners who eagerly participated in the strike force,” said Rose McMurray, FMCSA chief safety officer and assistant administrator. “Our state counterparts, including state commercial vehicle enforcement units, consumer protection agencies and the state Attorney General offices, were an integral part of this ambitious effort. We will continue working together to protect the public from these rogue and often predatory moving companies.”
Consumers can help identify noncompliant household goods movers by
calling FMCSA's nationwide complaint hotline, 1-888-368-7238 (1-888 DOT-SAFT)
or by visiting
http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. Prior to selecting a household goods
carrier, consumers should also visit FMCSA’s
www.protectyourmove.gov
for information on planning a successful move and to search movers and their
complaint history.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters Announces New Upgrades to the Five Star Safety Rating Program
Consumers will have better, more complete safety information about the vehicles they want to purchase under a new plan to improve the federal government’s automobile crash tests and strengthen its five-star vehicle safety rating system, announced U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters today.
“Knowing how many horses a car engine has is important, but knowing how safe a car is before you even step into a dealership ought to be essential,” Secretary Peters said. “We want to make sure consumers can easily take safety into consideration when choosing a new vehicle, along with price, fuel efficiency, size and the color they like best.”
Under the improvements to the five-star safety rating program, vehicles beginning with model year 2010 will for the first time be given an overall safety rating that combines results from frontal, side and rollover tests. The upgraded system also will include new frontal crash tests, and a new side pole test to simulate wrapping a vehicle around a tree, the Secretary said. She said female crash dummies will be added to the tests, so women and larger children are represented, and that new testing for leg injuries will be done.
Also for the first time, Secretary Peters said, a new rating on emerging advanced technologies will be added so consumers will know whether specific crash avoidance technologies, namely electronic stability control, lane departure warning systems and forward collision warning systems, are optional or standard features on new vehicles.
“Enhanced Government Safety Ratings are intended to further the continuous advancement of vehicle safety,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, Nicole R. Nason. “In addition to providing important information to consumers, the ratings encourage vehicle manufacturers to continue to design vehicles that reach an even higher level of safety.”
Each year, NHTSA performs rollover and crash tests on new cars and trucks and assigns them a safety rating available on the window label of new vehicles. For nearly 30 years, Secretary Peters said, the five star safety rating system has been the catalyst for encouraging major safety improvements to new vehicle design. For more information on upgrades to the Government Safety Ratings System, visit http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Rulemaking/Rules/Associated%20Files/NCAP_Final_Notice_July_08.pdf.
Statement of The Honorable Tyler Duvall
Acting Under Secretary for Policy
U.S. Department of Transportation
before the
Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
U.S. House of Representatives
Hearing on Improving Automobile Fuel Economy
June 26, 2008
Mr. Chairman, I am Tyler Duvall, Acting Under Secretary for Policy for the Department of Transportation. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Committee to discuss our most recent proposal for substantial increases in the fuel economy standards. These increases are needed more than ever to achieve energy independence and security and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The demand for petroleum is steadily increasing around the world and here in the U.S. Altogether, the U.S. consumes about 25 percent of the total amount of petroleum consumed worldwide. Much of that petroleum goes to providing us the mobility on which our economy depends. Sixty percent of the petroleum needed to meet that demand is imported.
The U.S. produces an estimated 23 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Carbon dioxide is the predominant GHG emitted by human sources. As EPA has said, carbon dioxide is responsible for about 95 percent of transportation GHG emissions, with all of the other emissions combined accounting for the remaining 5 percent of GHG emissions. The transportation sector is the largest and fastest growing source of domestic carbon dioxide emissions, producing approximately 30 percent of the nation’s total.
The problems posed by light vehicle fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have a common solution. Carbon dioxide is a natural by-product of the combustion of fuel in light vehicles. Given that tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide cannot be destroyed or feasibly captured by control technologies in light vehicles, the feasible way to make the most substantial reductions in their tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide now and for the foreseeable future is to reduce fuel consumption.
This fundamental scientific reality was the basis for the President’s “Twenty in Ten” proposal to reduce domestic gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 2017. A key component of his proposal was a significant increase in fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. By increasing standards beginning in model year 2010 for cars and in model year 2012 for light trucks, the President’s aggressive proposal was projected to save up to 8.5 billion gallons of gasoline in 2017 alone and reduce consumption by 5 percent. These amounts were based on an assumption that, on average, fuel economy standards for both light trucks and passenger cars would increase 4 percent per year.
To enable us to increase the car standards responsibly, the President asked Congress to give us the authority to set attribute-based car standards just as we had set attribute-based light truck standards. We took that step in response to the safety concerns expressed by the National Academy of Science in a congressionally mandated report. NAS said that significantly and quickly increasing the fuel economy standards without first reforming the standards by making them attribute-based would likely lead to the further downsizing of vehicles and thus to additional deaths and injuries on our highways.
In December of last year, Congress opened the way to substantial increases in the car standards when it enacted the Energy Information and Security Act (EISA). EISA mandated that the car standards and light truck standards be set high enough to ensure that the combined industry-wide average reaches at least 35 mpg in model year 2020. It not only gave us the authority to set attribute-based car standards, but also mandated that both car and light truck standards must be attribute-based.
Using the guidance and new tools provided by EISA, we have proposed standards for model years 2011 to 2015. Those standards are based in large measure on the joint work of the technical staffs of our agency and the Environmental Protection Agency. Our staffs met nearly daily for seven months and completely revamped the foundations of CAFE rulemaking. For example, they reviewed and revised the list of technologies that will be available during those years and updated the estimated costs and effectiveness figures for those technologies. In addition, they updated and refined assumptions, methodologies and models.
Our proposed fuel economy standards were developed with the aid of cost-benefit analysis. We updated our benefit estimates as well as our cost estimates. The benefits consist primarily of three things: the fuel saved, the contribution that fuel savings makes to energy security and independence, and the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions resulting from that fuel savings. We updated the dollar values of the first two and for the first time placed a value on the third. We recognize that there are uncertainties regarding each of these values and have requested public comments on all of them. We then conducted a balancing that ensured every dollar we ask companies to spend for better fuel economy returns at least one dollar’s worth of benefits.
The proposed standards would increase fuel economy 4.5 percent per year over the 5-year period ending in 2015. This rate substantially exceeds not only the 3.3 percent per year needed on average to meet the 35 mpg minimum established by Congress last year, but also the 4 percent per year increase called for in the President’s Twenty-in-Ten proposal. An average annual increase of only 2.1% for combined fleet from 2016 onward would be needed to reach the required level of 35 mpg by model year 2020.
For passenger cars, the proposal would increase fuel economy from the current 27.5 miles per gallon to an industry average of 35.7 miles per gallon by 2015. For light trucks, the proposal calls for increases from 23.5 miles per gallon in 2010 to an industry average of 28.6 miles per gallon in 2015. We estimate achieving these levels of fuel economy would require nearly $50 billion of investments in fuel saving technologies through 2015.
These standards are tough, but achievable and necessary. All told, the proposal will save nearly 55 billion gallons of fuel and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions estimated at 521 million metric tons over the life of the affected vehicles.
To provide manufacturers with added flexibility, we have proposed regulations permitting them to transfer and trade compliance credits.
We will soon be receiving public comments on our proposal. Our decisions about the final rule will be reached after careful analysis of the comments and with the benefit of full analysis of the environmental impacts of the alternatives before the agency.
We expect to make a final decision this year, less than one year after the enactment of EISA. This will be an accomplishment in which we can all take credit and pride.
I would be pleased to answer any questions.
United States, Brazil Agree to Expanded Air Services
The United States and Brazil have concluded an agreement that will provide for a nearly 50 percent increase in passenger flights between the two countries as well as eliminate restrictions on the number of airlines that can provide U.S.-Brazil air service, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today.
“This agreement will help air carriers meet the growing demand for passenger and cargo services between the United States and Brazil,” said Secretary Peters. “Now more than ever, it is crucial that we give U.S. carriers every possible opportunity to compete and succeed wherever passengers want to fly.”
Any number of U.S. or Brazilian airlines now may fly between the two countries, removing the previous limit of four carriers from each side. The agreement also will, in four stages between July 2008 and October 2010, permit an increase in the number of weekly U.S.-Brazil passenger flights from 105 to 154 for each country’s carriers, Secretary Peters added.
The agreement also will allow expanded air cargo services between the United States and Brazil. The number of weekly cargo flights may expand from 24 to 35 immediately, and to 42 in the year 2010. In addition, the agreement allows cargo charter flights to increase from 750 per year to 1,000 immediately, and to 1,250 in 2010. U.S. cargo companies also will be allowed to transfer freight from aircraft to trucks for door-to-door delivery in Brazil.
Under the agreement, U.S. carriers may serve five new cities in Brazil – Fortaleza, Curitiba and three others to be selected by the United States. Currently, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines provide service between the United States and Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. The agreement also allows, for the first time, U.S. and Brazilian carriers to provide certain types of service on a code-share basis with their partner airlines from third-countries.
The delegations agreed to apply the terms of the agreement on a reciprocal basis until it enters into force.
Statement of Mr. James F. Ports, Jr.
Deputy Administrator
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
before the
Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Insurance and Automotive Safety
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
Oversight Hearing on Passenger Vehicle Roof Strength
June 4, 2008
Mr. Chairman, I am Jim Ports, Deputy Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee to discuss the important issue of rollover protection, and particularly roof crush safety.
Every death and serious injury that occurs on our Nation’s highways is a tragedy. Rollover crashes account for about one-third of the nearly 30,000 light vehicle occupant fatalities that occur each year. I share the same feelings of concern and empathy as you for the individuals and families who have been tragically affected by these dreadful crashes, and extend my deepest condolences to them.
I am proud to say that NHTSA has taken significant steps to reduce the deaths and serious injuries that occur due to rollover crashes. Rollover crashes are complex and chaotic events. They can range from a single quarter turn to eight or more quarter turns, with the duration of the rollover crash lasting from one to several seconds. The wide range of rollover conditions occurs because these crashes largely occur off road where the vehicle motion is highly influenced by roadside conditions. Also, rollover crashes tend to occur at higher speeds than other crash types due to the energy required to initiate them.
The agency developed a comprehensive plan to address these crashes and has made great strides to implement these strategies. It is important to realize that each initiative in NHTSA’s comprehensive program addresses a different aspect of the rollover problem. Our strategy is to first reduce the occurrence of rollover crashes, secondly keep occupants inside the vehicle when rollovers do occur, and finally to better protect the occupants kept inside the vehicle during the rollover. Each of these three initiatives must work together to address the various aspects of the rollover problem.
The most effective way to reduce deaths and injuries in rollover crashes is to prevent the rollover crash from occurring. Two agency efforts have been taken to reduce the occurrence of rollover crashes -mandating that all passenger vehicles be equipped with Electronic Stability Control and incorporating a rollover rating into the agency’s 5-star vehicle safety ratings (known as the New Car Assessment Program).
In April 2007, NHTSA published a final rule establishing requirements for Electronic Stability Control, or ESC, in passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds. ESC systems use automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to assist the driver in maintaining control in critical driving situations. ESC is the most significant safety advancement since the introduction of seat belts. The agency estimates that this technology will save up to 9,600 lives in all types of crashes annually once all light vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC. These safety benefits will occur in all types of crashes where the driver would lose control of the vehicle and the vehicle would crash off the road or into another vehicle. However, the lion’s share of these benefits will be in rollover crashes, where it is estimated that ESC systems will reduce about one-half (4,200 to 5,500) of the approximately 10,000 deaths each year resulting from rollover crashes.
NHTSA incorporated a rollover static stability factor into its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) in 2001. This consumer information program uses market forces to encourage manufacturers to make safety improvements not the least of which has been the voluntary adoption of ESC systems in many vehicles, including sport utility vehicles. In the seven years since incorporation into NCAP, we estimate that the risk of rollover in a single vehicle crash for an average sport utility vehicle has been reduced by nearly 20 percent, and that an average pickup rollover risk has been reduced almost 10 percent.
When a rollover crash does occur, it is critical to keep the occupant inside the vehicle. The fatality rate for an ejected vehicle occupant is three times as great as that for an occupant who remains inside the vehicle. Our crash data show that about one-half of the people killed in vehicles that rolled over were completely ejected, and another 10 percent of those killed were partially ejected. So mitigating ejections offers potential for significant safety gains. Safety belts are the most effective crashworthiness countermeasure in reducing ejected rollover fatalities. In fact, seat belts reduce the probability of ejection by 91% in fatal crashes in passenger cars and light trucks. In addition to our successful efforts to increase seat belt use, NHTSA also has strength requirements for door latches and a forthcoming SAFETEA-LU proposal for ejection mitigation.
Finally, in addition to rollover crash prevention and ejection mitigation, we strive to better protect the occupants kept inside the vehicle during the rollover through enhanced roof crush resistance. In 1973, the United States became the first country to adopt a roof strength requirement. Since that time, Canada and Saudi Arabia have also adopted a similar requirement. No other government anywhere in the world has any requirement for roof strength.
Each initiative in NHTSA’s comprehensive program to address the different aspects of the rollover problem is important because each initiative has a different target population for which that initiative will be effective. Each of these three initiatives must work together to address the various aspects of the rollover problem. However, it is important to understand which portion of the rollover problem can be addressed by each of these three initiatives so that there is a clear and correct understanding of the safety benefits potentially associated with each of the different types of actions to reduce rollover deaths and injuries.
In August 2005, NHTSA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to upgrade the roof crush requirements of light passenger vehicles. Among the major provisions, the NPRM proposed to extend application of the standard to heavier vehicles, increase the roof strength requirements so that a vehicle would sustain a load equal to 2.5 times its unloaded weight, and require a new headroom criterion. The agency has received a large number of comments from industry, public interest groups, and other parties addressing significant issues related to this proposed rule.
In response to extensive public interest and safety advocate comments on the NPRM, a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) was published on January 30, 2008. The SNPRM modified our original proposal to include consideration of a two-sided test requirement, as well as soliciting comments to allow the agency the potential to go beyond a 2.5 Strength to Weight Ratio (SWR). Subsequent to issuance of the NPRM, the agency conducted extensive testing of current production vehicles to, among other things, determine the effects of two-sided testing and to assess the roof strengths of vehicles currently on the market. These test results were released in the SNPRM.
Since issuance of the NPRM in 2005, NHTSA has collected and analyzed additional crash data, tested the strength of vehicle roofs in the vehicle fleet, completed cost and lead-time studies, and completed other analyses important for the final rule development. The agency is in the final stages of its work to issue the final rule. Because we are still in rulemaking on this Standard, we are not able to discuss specific decisions related to estimates of lives saved, stringency of the requirements, or other issues related to the final rule.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for your consideration and this subcommittee’s ongoing efforts to improve highway safety. I would be pleased to answer any questions.
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters Launches DOT’s Blog
Welcome to the Fast Lane!
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters today launched Fast Lane, the Department’s new blog. Accessible at http://fastlane.dot.gov, Fast Lane will be an on-line community for all those interested in the nation’s transportation system and its future.
Fast Lane contributors will include Secretary Peters, Deputy Secretary Thomas Barrett, Administrators from the Department’s operating agencies, and other senior officials. In addition, the site will welcome guest bloggers from government, industry, and the transportation community. The Department will also use the blog to break news and make announcements.
“Fast Lane will allow me and others here at the Department to speak directly with interested citizens, members of the transportation community and the blogosphere to engage in an earnest conversation about our nation’s transportation future,” Secretary Peters said. “I have made 21st century solutions a priority for our transportation system, and now I’m thrilled to be using a 21st century communications tool to reach Americans in a whole new way.”
Fast Lane is an open forum, and visitors are encouraged to submit comments, contribute ideas, and bring to the Department’s attention innovative and exciting transportation activities in their communities. All comments will be reviewed before inclusion, and a representative sample will be posted to the site.
BTS Releases Fourth-Quarter 2007 Air Fare Data;
Average Fourth-Quarter Air Fares Rose 4.0 Percent from 2006
Average air fares in the fourth quarter of 2007 were up 4.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, reaching the highest fourth-quarter level since 2001 but remaining 2.7 percent below the high set in 2000 for any October-to-December period, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported today.
A press release containing information about fourth-quarter average fares and the Air Travel Price Index, a quarterly measure of changes in airfares is available at www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm. Additional information about air fares in the fourth quarter, including average fares for the top 100 airports, and about ATPI, including indexes for foreign-origin itineraries and the top 85 air travel markets based on originating passengers, can be found on the BTS website, http://www.bts.gov/xml/atpi/src/index.xml.
Multiple airport areas for which a single average fare calculation is available are: Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
Airports covered by average fare calculations are:
| Alabama. | Birmingham | ||
| Alaska: | Anchorage | ||
| Arizona | Phoenix, Tucson | ||
| Arkansas: | Little Rock | ||
| California: | Burbank, Long Beach, Los Angeles Intl, Oakland, | ||
| Ontario/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana (Orange County) | |||
| Colorado | Colorado Springs, Denver | ||
| Connecticut | Hartford | ||
| District of Columbia | Dulles, Reagan National | ||
| Florida | Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, | ||
| Tampa, West Palm Beach | |||
| Georgia | Atlanta | ||
| Hawaii | Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului (Maui), Kona, Lihue (Kauai) | ||
| Idaho | Boise | ||
| Illinois | Chicago Midway, Chicago O'Hare | ||
| Indiana | Indianapolis | ||
| Iowa | Des Moines | ||
| Kansas | Wichita | ||
| Kentucky | Louisville | ||
| Louisiana | New Orleans | ||
| Maine | Portland | ||
| Maryland | Baltimore | ||
| Massachusetts | Boston | ||
| Michigan | Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint | ||
| Minnesota | Minneapolis/St. Paul | ||
| Mississippi | Jackson/Vicksburg | ||
| Missouri | Kansas City, St. Louis | ||
| Nebraska | Omaha | ||
| Nevada | Las Vegas, Reno | ||
| New Hampshire | Manchester | ||
| New Jersey | Newark | ||
| New Mexico | Albuquerque | ||
| New York | Albany, Buffalo, Islip, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Rochester, Syracuse, White Plains | ||
| North Carolina | Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh/Durham | ||
| Ohio | Akron/Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton | ||
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City, Tulsa | ||
| Oregon | Portland | ||
| Pennsylvania | Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh | ||
| Rhode Island | Providence | ||
| South Carolina | Charleston | ||
| Tennessee | Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville | ||
| Texas | Austin, Dallas Love, Dallas/Ft. Worth, El Paso, Houston Bush, Houston Hobby, San Antonio | ||
| Utah | Salt Lake City | ||
| Vermont | Burlington | ||
| Virginia | Norfolk, Richmond | ||
| Washington | Seattle, Spokane | ||
| Wisconsin | Madison, Milwaukee | ||
| Puerto Rico | San Juan |
CAFE STANDARDS ANNOUNCEMENT
WASHINGTON, DC
APRIL 22, 2008
1:00 PM
Good afternoon, and thank you all for being here today.
The summer driving season is nearly here, and families everywhere are
thinking about their vacation plans. Unfortunately, the high gas prices are
causing some to cancel campsite reservations or re-evaluate that family road
trip.
One of President Bush’s goals is to reduce our dependence on foreign sources
of oil. One way we can meet this goal is to reduce the amount of gas our
cars use.
I arrived here today in a hybrid vehicle – a Saturn Aura that is regularly
used in our fleet of vehicles at DOT, which also includes flex-fuel SUVs
used by my security team. These are just some of the amazing fuel-saving
technologies that are now readily available.
I just spent some time looking at the group of fuel-efficient cars behind
me. All of them incorporate the latest and greatest technological
breakthroughs in fuel efficiency — easing the strain on both consumer
wallets and our nation’s fuel consumption.
Today, I am announcing new proposed fuel standards that are historically
ambitious, yet achievable.
Under the proposed rule, the fuel economy on a fleet-wide basis will
increase by an average of four-and-a-half percent annually through 2015 – a
25 percent improvement over five years. This standard exceeds the 3.3
percent average annual increase needed to reach the target passed by
Congress last year.
For passenger cars, this means increasing fuel economy from the current 27.5
miles per gallon standard to an industry average of 35.7 miles per gallon by
2015.
For light trucks, the proposal calls for increases from 23.5 miles per
gallon in 2010 to 28.6 miles per gallon in 2015.
All told, this proposal will save nearly 55 billion gallons of fuel over the
lifetime of the vehicles affected, which is those in model years 2011
through 2015. And it will save America’s drivers over $100 billion in fuel
costs over the lifetime of those vehicles.
Over the last six years, this Administration has twice made changes to our
nation’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards by increasing
mileage requirements for light trucks.
Last year, President Bush called for an energy plan that goes even further
by requiring attribute-based fuel efficiency standards for passenger
vehicles. His plan, called the “Twenty-in-Ten” initiative, was passed by
Congress last year.
Our proposal ensures that we can accomplish these significant gains in fuel
economy by basing standards on vehicle attributes, such as size. An
attribute-based approach allows us to reduce fuel consumption without
sacrificing safety. We will not compromise safety in pursuit of increased
fuel efficiency. And, with this rule, we do not have to.
As some of you may know, today is Earth Day. It is nice to be out here under
the trees today – they serve as a reminder of the much larger world that
exists outside of concrete jungles like Washington, and as a reminder to
breathe every once in awhile.
This proposal will also help us all breathe a little easier by reducing
carbon dioxide emissions from tailpipes, cutting fuel consumption and making
driving a little more affordable.
In fact, the standards in this proposal would reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by an estimated 521 million metric tons, and is an important part
of this Administration’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Finally, as required by Congress, the proposal allows for automakers to earn
credits for exceeding CAFE standards. This will serve as an incentive for
companies to exceed these goals while giving manufacturers flexibility to
meet the standards without compromising their economic vitality.
Our goal is to save fuel, not endanger jobs. These credits allow us to do
just that.
As the vehicles behind me show, technology is making our cars as fuel
efficient as possible while maintaining safety. Our approach ensures that
consumers can enjoy the freedom to purchase the cars they want while
requiring all manufacturers to do more.
Looking at these vehicles, it is easy to see a not-too-distant future when
cars fueled by something other than gasoline will be readily available and
affordable. Until that time, however, we will continue to do what we can,
safely and efficiently, to improve gas mileage and help consumers spend less
time – and less money – at the pump.
Secretary Peters Proposes 25 Percent Increase in Fuel Efficiency
Standards Over 5 Years for Passenger Vehicles, Light Trucks
Fuel efficiency standards for both passenger vehicles and light trucks would
increase by 4.5 percent per year over the five-year period ending in 2015 –
a 25 percent total improvement that exceeds the 3.3 percent baseline
proposed by Congress last year – under an ambitious new proposal announced
today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters.
“This proposal is historically ambitious, yet achievable,” Secretary Peters
said. “It will help us all breathe a little easier by reducing tailpipe
emissions, cutting fuel consumption and making driving a little more
affordable.”
For passenger cars, the proposal would increase fuel economy from the
current 27.5 miles per gallon to 35.7 miles per gallon by 2015. For light
trucks, the proposal calls for increases from 23.5 miles per gallon in 2010
to 28.6 miles per gallon in 2015.
All told, the proposal will save nearly 55 billion gallons of fuel and a
reduction in carbon dioxide emissions estimated at 521 million metric tons.
The plan will save America’s drivers over $100 billion in fuel costs over
the lifetime of the vehicles covered by the rule, Secretary Peters said.
As required by Congress, the proposed rule allows for automakers to earn
credits for exceeding Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards.
This will serve as an incentive for companies to exceed these goals while
giving manufacturers flexibility to meet the standards without compromising
their economic vitality. The goal is to save fuel, not endanger jobs,
Secretary Peters said.
“Looking at the fuel-efficient technologies already available, it’s easy to
see a not-too-distant future when cars fueled by something other than
gasoline will be readily available and affordable,” Secretary Peters said.
“Until that time, however, we will continue to do what we can, safely and
efficiently, to improve gas mileage and help consumers spend less time and
less money at the pump.”
Over the last six years, the Administration has twice made changes to the
nation’s CAFE standards, including the first since 1975 to increase mileage
requirements for light trucks. Last year, President Bush called for an
energy plan that goes even further by requiring attribute-based fuel
efficiency standards for passenger vehicles. A copy of the CAFE proposal can
be found at
www.nhtsa.gov.
DOT 54-08
Contact: Brian Turmail
Friday, April 18, 2008
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters Announces Steps to
Improve Aviation Safety Inspection Program, and Minimize Air Travel
Disruptions
Names Independent Study Team to Recommend Improvements to FAA Safety
Culture, Implementation of Safety Program
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters today announced a series
of measures to improve the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) safety
inspection program, and minimize travel disruptions caused when airlines
abruptly ground aircraft. The Secretary also tasked a newly created
independent review team with crafting recommendations to improve the current
aviation safety system.
“The mark of an effective safety system is the ability to constantly improve
and adapt,” said Secretary Peters. “These steps will help make inspectors
and managers more accountable, keep airlines focused on safety and minimize
disruptions for travelers.”
The Secretary said the FAA would begin implementing a new program to track the inspections being conducted by field offices that will alert key personnel whenever a safety inspection is overdue. She added that the agency would begin requiring senior level officials within the agency’s field offices to be accountable for accepting voluntary safety disclosures from airlines and to revise ethics rules to require a cooling-off period before FAA inspectors can work for an airline they used to oversee or interact while at the agency.
In addition, she announced that the FAA is establishing a new National Safety Inspection Review team. This new team will be deployed to air carriers to conduct focused and comprehensive safety reviews. She added that the team’s deployments would be based on where the safety data indicates problems are most likely to occur.
The Secretary said she was asking both the FAA and American Airlines for assessments, within 14 days, of what happened, why it happened and what could have been done differently. She added that “their reports will go a long way in explaining why so many aircraft had to be grounded and so many travelers had to be inconvenienced.”
Secretary Peters also announced that she has tasked the Department’s
Office of Aviation Safety Enforcement in the Office of General Counsel to
gauge whether airlines have adequate plans in place to accommodate
passengers should a carrier have to abruptly ground its aircraft.
Saying that “we must do more, though, than respond to the lessons of the
past few weeks,” the Secretary announced that she has created an outside
team of aviation and safety experts to evaluate and craft recommendations to
improve the FAA’s implementation of the aviation safety system and its
culture of safety.
The Secretary said the FAA’s current approach to safety oversight was both sound and delivering decisive results. She added though that the last few weeks had made it clear that “a good system can always be made better.” So she has tasked the team with developing recommendations within 120 days on how the agency can do an even better job safeguarding the skies.
The members of the outside team are:
* J. Randall Babbitt served as the President and CEO of the Air Line Pilots Association and has been active with the organization since 1981. His current position is Chairman & CEO of Eclat Consulting, a consulting firm providing specialized aviation and labor consulting services.
* William O. McCabe served as former Director of Aviation DuPont and Member of Board of Governors at the Flight Safety Foundation. He has chaired the Aerospace Industries Association of America’s Civil Aviation Council and is a member of the AIA Board of Governors. He also is on the Safety Committee of the National Business Aviation Association and serves on the Board of Directors of the Delaware Aerospace Education Foundation.
* Malcolm K. Sparrow is Professor of the Practice of Public Management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Faculty Chair of the Executive Program on Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies. He served 10 years with the British Police Service, rising to the rank of Detective Chief Inspector.
* Ambassador Edward W. Stimpson was appointed by President Clinton in July 1999 as the Representative of the United States of America on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). For 25 years, Mr. Stimpson was President of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), representing more than 50 companies involved in the manufacture of aircraft and component parts.
* Hon. Carl W. Vogt was appointed by President Bush in 1992 as a Member and as Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. In 1996, FAA Administrator David Hinson appointed Mr. Vogt as a member of the FAA Ninety Day Safety Review Committee. Also in 1996, Mr. Vogt was appointed by President Clinton as a member of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security.
“Taken together, these new measures will improve aviation safety, answer tough questions and put travelers at ease,” said Secretary Peters. “They will build on the historic accomplishments of this agency and the record commitment to safety that everyone involved in commercial aviation in this country shares.”
###
U.S. Department of Transportation
Office of Public Affairs
Washington, D.C.
www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm
Speech
REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
FAA SAFETY ANNOUCEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
APRIL 18, 2008
2 PM
Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming, and thank you, Bobby, for that
introduction and for your strong leadership and fierce dedication to the
safety of our aviation system.
Acting Administrator Sturgell and I just met with the senior leadership of the Federal Aviation Administration. We talked about how by virtually every measure flying today is safer than it has ever been.
The men and women of this agency share much of the credit for the significant improvement in aviation safety this country has experienced over the last decade. Thanks to their hard work, we have the most sophisticated and fundamentally sound approach to aviation safety of any country in the world.
We also talked about the doubts that have been raised because of the unacceptable actions of a few. And we all expressed our concern and sympathy for the frustrations and inconveniences that too many travelers have experienced over the past few weeks.
The mark of an effective safety system is the ability to constantly improve and adapt. The people of this agency understand that well and have crafted an approach to aviation safety that is constantly evolving and ever improving.
Today we are announcing new measures designed to improve upon an already impressive safety system. These steps will help make inspectors and managers even more accountable, keep airlines focused on safety, and minimize disruptions for travelers.
The FAA will begin implementing a new program to track the inspections
being conducted by its field offices. This program is designed to alert
local, regional and D.C.-based FAA personnel when an inspection is overdue.
In addition, the FAA is establishing a new national safety inspection review
team. Its job will be to place extra focus on the areas of the system where
the data tells us problems are most likely to occur.
And I have asked Bobby to make sure that higher-level FAA officials are held accountable for accepting the voluntary disclosures from airlines of safety or maintenance issues. So we are going to have senior officials within our field offices sign off on voluntary disclosures in addition to local inspectors.
These measures follow an earlier decision by Bobby and his team to require senior airline officials to sign off on safety disclosure reports and to revise ethics rules to require a cooling-off period before FAA inspectors can work for an airline they used to oversee or can interact with the agency.
We want to make it clear that there is no place in this agency for anyone interested in turning a blind eye to the safety of our skies. And we also will get to the bottom of why it was that hundreds of thousands of travelers had vacations cancelled and business trips interrupted last week.
All of us have an obligation to the travelers who were inconvenienced to see what lessons can be applied from these recent experiences that would minimize future disruptions for travelers.
So today I am asking the FAA and American Airlines to provide me, within 14 days, their assessments of what happened, why it happened, and what, if anything, could have been done differently.
Their reports will go a long way in explaining why so many aircraft had to be grounded and so many travelers had to be inconvenienced. More importantly, their answers should help us avoid similar disruptions as the FAA completes its comprehensive audit.
In addition, I have asked our Office of Aviation Enforcement to gauge whether the airlines have adequate plans in place to address the needs of passengers should another carrier have to abruptly ground its aircraft. Travelers should not pay the price for unmet deadlines or unclear instructions.
We must do more, though, than respond to the lessons of the past few weeks. As safety professionals, we have to ask what else can be done to improve our approach to safety.
Ever since the FAA began implementing the recommendations of the Gore
Commission in 1997 to work in partnership with industry to achieve safety
goals, safety has improved.
Before going to the current safety management system, the commercial
aviation fatality rate was 45 deaths for every 100 million people flown.
Today the rate is a historically low five-to-eight fatalities per 100
million people.
There is simply no question that our approach is sound and our results
decisive. But there also is no doubt that a good system can always be made
better. So today I am announcing the creation of an outside team of aviation
and safety experts to evaluate and craft recommendations to improve our
implementation of the aviation safety system.
Randall Babbitt, William McCabe, Ambassador Edward Stimpson, Malcolm Sparrow
and Carl Vogt have agreed to serve. This team includes aviation and safety
experts from both sides of the aisle with diverse opinions, broad expertise,
and strong records of accomplishment. Their task won’t be easy, but their
mission will be clear – tell us within 120 days how we can do an even better
job of safeguarding the skies.
Taken together, these new measures will improve aviation safety, answer tough questions, and put travelers at ease. They will build on the historic accomplishments of this agency and the record commitment to safety that everyone involved in commercial aviation in this country shares.
While the events of the last few weeks have been challenging, they have raised good questions and reminded all of us that, as good as we are, we can always be better.
But the true measure of an agency is not what challenges it faces, but
how it handles them. And I am confident that this agency will respond to,
learn from, and improve by this challenge.
Thank you, and now I would be happy to answer your questions.
Trains Transporting the Most Toxic Hazardous Materials
Must Use Safest, Most Secure Route
New Federal Routing Rule Follows Proposal to Ra