S. HRG. 115–66 FAA REAUTHORIZATION: PERSPECTIVES ON RURAL AIR SERVICE AND THE GENERAL AVIATION COMMUNITY HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 6, 2017 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 26–598 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:49 Sep 12, 2017 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\DOCS\26598.TXT JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington TED CRUZ, Texas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JERRY MORAN, Kansas BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts DEAN HELLER, Nevada CORY BOOKER, New Jersey JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma TOM UDALL, New Mexico MIKE LEE, Utah GARY PETERS, Michigan RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois CORY GARDNER, Colorado MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire TODD YOUNG, Indiana CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada NICK ROSSI, Staff Director ADRIAN ARNAKIS, Deputy Staff Director JASON VAN BEEK, General Counsel KIM LIPSKY, Democratic Staff Director CHRIS DAY, Democratic Deputy Staff Director RENAE BLACK, Senior Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND SECURITY ROY BLUNT, Missouri, Chairman MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Ranking ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii JERRY MORAN, Kansas EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska CORY BOOKER, New Jersey DEAN HELLER, Nevada TOM UDALL, New Mexico JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma GARY PETERS, Michigan MIKE LEE, Utah TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin SHELLEY CAPITO, West Virginia TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois CORY GARDNER, Colorado MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire TODD YOUNG, Indiana (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:49 Sep 12, 2017 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\26598.TXT JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on April 6, 2017 ................................................................................ 1 Statement of Senator Blunt .................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 3 Statement of Senator Cantwell .............................................................................. 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 Statement of Senator Fischer ................................................................................. 5 Statement of Senator Moran .................................................................................. 9 Letter dated March 6, 2017 to Hon. John Thune and Hon. Bill Nelson from 150 mayors regarding the privatization of our air traffic control system and the removal of Congressional oversight .................................. 11 Statement of Senator Inhofe ................................................................................... 13 Statement of Senator Booker .................................................................................. 15 Statement of Senator Hassan ................................................................................. 17 Statement of Senator Capito .................................................................................. 18 Statement of Senator Wicker .................................................................................. 20 Statement of Senator Peters ................................................................................... 21 Statement of Senator Thune ................................................................................... 23 APPENDIX Hon. Laurie Gill, Mayor of Pierre, South Dakota, prepared statement .............. 29 Spencer Dickerson, Senior Executive Vice President—Global Operations, American Association of Airport Executives, and Executive Director, U.S. Contract Tower Association, prepared statement ............................................. 31 Mark Baker, President and CEO, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, prepared statement .............................................................................................. 41 Dr. Guy M. Smith, Professor Emeritus, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univer- sity, prepared statement ...................................................................................... 45 Letter dated April 4, 2017 to Senator Roy Blunt from Matt Atkinson, Board Chair, Alaska Air Carriers Association and Jane Dale, Director, Alaska Air Carriers Association ...................................................................................... 51 Letter dated April 6, 2017 to Hon. John Thune, Hon. Bill Nelson, Hon. Roy Blunt and Hon. Maria Cantwell from Selena Shilad, Executive Direc- tor, Alliance for Aviation Across America .......................................................... 53 Letter dated June 30, 2017 to Hon. John Thune from Alan J. Stolzer, Ph.D., FRAeS, Dean and Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University ............. 54 Written statement from the Air Line Pilots Association, International ............. 55 Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Guy M. Smith by: Hon. John Thune .............................................................................................. 63 Hon. Richard Blumenthal ................................................................................ 64 Hon. Tammy Duckworth .................................................................................. 65 Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to: Spencer Dickerson ............................................................................................ 70 Mark Baker ....................................................................................................... 71 Response to written question submitted by Hon. Tammy Duckworth to: Hon. Laurie Gill ................................................................................................ 72 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:49 Sep 12, 2017 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\26598.TXT JACKIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:49 Sep 12, 2017 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\26598.TXT JACKIE FAA REAUTHORIZATION: PERSPECTIVES ON RURAL AIR SERVICE AND THE GENERAL AVIATION COMMUNITY THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND SECURITY, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01 a.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Roy Blunt, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Blunt [presiding], Thune, Wicker, Fischer, Moran, Inhofe, Capito, Gardner, Young, Cantwell, Klobuchar, Booker, Peters, and Hassan. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROY BLUNT, U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSOURI Senator BLUNT. The hearing will come to order. Based on Sen- ator Cantwell’s staff assurance that we can start without her and she is on the way, we are going to do that. We have an 11 o’clock vote scheduled today, and because of that, we have asked the witnesses to give us an opportunity to look at your written testimony and ask questions, and so we will be mov- ing quickly here as we get started. We are certainly glad our witnesses are here today. The Honor- able Laurie Gill, the Mayor of Pierre, South Dakota. How we get someone from Pierre to be here with Chairman Thune, the Chair- man of the Full Committee, is a shock to all of us. But, Mayor, we are glad you are here. Spencer Dickerson, the Executive Director of the U.S. Contract Tower Association, which is an affiliate organi- zation of the American Association of Airport Executives. Mr. Mark Baker, the President and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. And Dr. Guy Smith, Professor Emeritus at Embry-Rid- dle Aeronautical University. We are pleased that you are all here. I certainly want to recognize that there are family members here of the victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407. Your presence here today is a reminder to us that aviation safety must be the primary goal of this subcommittee and the Congress as it deals with FAA issues. This hearing is part of a series of hearings on the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:49 Sep 12, 2017 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\DOCS\26598.TXT JACKIE 2 Civil aviation, obviously, is critically important to our economy and particularly important to small and rural communities. It is estimated that the overall economic impact of reliable air service in small communities is roughly $121 billion, and it supports over 1.1 million jobs. Quality air service links smaller communities to the broader economy and global transportation networks. Small and non-hub airports provide a lifeline for local businesses, for transportation of service members,