The House aviation subcommittee will convene a hearing
Wednesday to assess the impact of the recent 35-day partial federal government
shutdown on aviation.
The move is the latest step by House legislators to advocate
on behalf of aviation after the shutdown, during which air traffic controllers
and TSA agents were required to work without pay and other functions of the
FAA, include aircraft certification and air traffic controller training, came
to a halt.
On Friday, House transportation committee chairman Peter
DeFazio (D-Ore.) and aviation subcommittee chairman Rick Larsen (D-Wash.)
introduced legislation that would guarantee the FAA would operate untouched
during future shutdowns. Funding during shutdowns would come from the Airport
and Airways Trust Fund, which is funded via user fees such as domestic
passenger ticket taxes and commercial fuel taxes.
The shutdown came to an end on the same day that call-outs
by air traffic controllers in Jacksonville and the Washington, D.C. area led to
a ground halt on flights to New York LaGuardia and other delays along the east
coast and on flights throughout airlines' interconnected networks.
The federal government could be closed again on Friday if
legislators and the White House can't reach a deal on border security by then.
The aviation subcommittee hearing will examine how the
recent shutdown impacted FAA functions and operations, "as well as the
U.S. aviation industry and workforce."