On January 2, 2023, Jim Burnley was quoted in Law360 on the transportation industry's top regulatory priorities to watch in 2023, including Congress’s reauthorization legislation for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
According to the article, Congress is expected to negotiate multiyear legislation reauthorizing funding for the FAA, since the most recent five-year FAA reauthorization legislation enacted in 2018 expired at the end of September 2022. Experts are anticipating a lot of debate on airport capital improvement projects, aircraft safety certifications, consumer protection measures, and expanding the government's playbook for integrating unmanned aircraft systems or drones.
For example, passenger’s rights advocates will likely lobby for provisions in the FAA bill to make it easier for travelers to get refunds from airlines and to comparison-shop for flights by requiring airlines to clearly disclose add-on fees upfront.
Burnley stated, “There's no question that so-called consumer protection issues will be a subject of debate in Congress.”
Burnley also added, “As always, there will be a focus on aviation safety issues—the whole question of certification of aircraft types is still bubbling. You're going to have a lot of UAS debate. We still don't have a system in place on the air traffic control side to manage drones and there are still security issues concerning drones that are outstanding.”
Click here to access the article.