It has become clear from the number of incidents that have occurred around American airlines, aircraft and at airports in recent months that the American aviation sector has a major safety problem. The US Senate is now taking the reins and is introducing a bill that should significantly improve the safety of the aviation sector.
Late on Thursday evening, the US Senate (upper house/upper house) held a vote. 88 of 92 senators voted in favor of a bill that pumps $105 billion into the aviation authority. This allows the FAA to increase the number of air traffic control personnel, prevent runway near misses and impose various measures on airlines. The mega amount, which represents a tenth of the Dutch economy, should help the FAA get rid of its toothless tiger image.
The law also contains some obligations for airlines. For example, American airlines are no longer allowed to charge money to families who want to sit together. In addition, cockpit voice recorders must now operate for at least 25 hours, currently only two hours. In addition, airlines are required to accept vouchers and credit for at least five years after issue. For the time being, the law must pass through Congress (American House of Representatives/Lower House), but it is expected to pass there without any problems. Especially after Republicans dismissed the increase in the retirement age to 67, according to Reuters.
Flying passengers will not notice much else. There is a big debate in the country about minimum seat width as there are many fat people living in the US. The law says nothing about that except that it leaves that up to the FAA itself. For non-flying passengers, i.e. passengers whose flights have been canceled and are seeking compensation, something significant will change. American Airlines are required by this law to compensate within a much shorter period. At the moment, it can take up to four months before victims even receive a response.
With a nose to the facts
In January, the incident involving Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737-MAX 9 forced US lawmakers to confront the facts. Something had to be done because the deregulation of the aviation sector too often creates risky situations. For example, last month a Swiss A330 broke its hair takeoff because there were four other aircraft on the runway at that time.
