Aviation

Congress passed the measure last week, but it was delayed in getting to the president because of a typo.

Southwest Airlines is being fined $150,000 for its delayed and poor responses to consumer complaints.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) levied the penalty against the airline for its failure to respond to complaints made between June 2011 and January 2012, including multiple grievances about service to passengers with disabilities. The department claims that the company's responses were late and inadequate to the consumers' problems.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that he was "not sure" when President Obama will sign the bill passed by Congress last week to end air traffic controller furloughs.

The measure to allow the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to move money around in its budget to eliminate the furloughs was hurriedly passed by Congress last week as airlines and passengers complained about mounting flight delays.

The FAA stopped the furloughs after both chambers of Congress approved the measure, but Carney said Wednesday that the White House did not have a time frame for when Obama would sign the bill into law.

"I'm not sure," Carney said when he was asked about the FAA bill signing during the White House press briefing on Wednesday.

"I believe it may be here or on its way," Carney continued. "And he'll sign it soon. As with all bill signings, we'll put out a statement when he has signed it." 

Your morning transportation speed-read:

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) is responding to criticism from comedian Jon Stewart over his response to furloughs for air traffic controllers that delayed flights last week. 

Stewart lampooned Rogers on his "Daily Show" during a segment about the bill that was passed by Congress last week to give budget flexibility to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to end the air towers furloughs.

Stewart showed a clip of Rogers asking FAA Administrator Michael Huerta "how come you didn't tell us about this beforehand?" in regard to the flight delays, followed by clips of Obama administration officials and media personalities warning about the possibility of airplane backups.

A spokesman for Rogers told The Hill on Thursday that "obviously Chairman Rogers was aware of the FAA warnings regarding sequester."

Air Force Two is stuck in Arizona after damage was discovered during a post-flight inspection.

A bipartisan group of members from Pennsylvania and New York have proposed legislation that would require all airlines to install a secondary cockpit, which would help prevent hijackings like those seen in the 9/11 attacks.

Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said the reinforced doors now used on planes help deter hijackings, but said even these must be opened during flights.

President Obama said Tuesday that the recently approved bill to end air traffic controller furloughs will not eliminate the problems the sequester will cause for airline passengers.

Obama is expected to sign on Tuesday the measure that was hurriedly approved by lawmakers last week to put an end to flight delays across the country, but he said the bill is a temporary fix that will make other problems to the aviation system worse.

"Congress responded to the short-term problem of flight delays by giving us the option of shifting money that's designed to repair and improve airports over the long term to fix the short-term problem," he said. "Well that's not a solution. Essentially what we've done is, we've said, in order to avoid delays this summer, we're going to ensure delays for the next two or three decades." 

Obama touted the FAA bill when he was asked about his ability to influence Republicans in Congress.

President Obama on Tuesday is expected to sign the bill passed by Congress last week to end furloughs for air traffic controllers that were blamed for flight delays across the country.

Obama has reportedly been held up from signing the bill, which was quickly passed by Congress last week, because of a typo in the legislation.

The measure to end the air traffic controller furloughs — and the flight delays they caused — was passed so quickly that parts of the bill were said to be handwritten.