Aviation

The FAA has had 22 short-term extensions of its funding bill which expired in 2007. 

The union for air traffic controllers reacted strongly Friday to a suggestion from former White House economic adviser Peter Orszag that the proposed advanced navigation system for the national aviation system could be privatized.

Orszag, who was director of the Office of Management and Budget until his resignation from the White House in 2010, said in an op-ed in this week that the private sector might be able to help get the proposed NextGen navigation up and running faster than the federal government with Republicans in control of the House.

But the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said Friday that the system would be in place faster if Congress passed a long-term authorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Americans put their trust in our highly skilled, professional and experienced federal air traffic controllers to get them where they need to go, safely and soundly," NATCA President Paul Rinaldi said in a statement. "And they should have confidence when they do: our nation’s air traffic controllers have a near-perfect safety record.

"So when former Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag opined … that our air traffic control system should be privatized, we must respond," he continued. "Orszag, and others who share his view, are advocating a dangerous and misguided solution for improving what is already the world’s safest and most efficient system."

Your morning transportation speed-read:

New York City subway riders may soon be able to use their cellphones on some train-station platforms.

Mobile devices are using more Wi-Fi in airports than computers.

Swedish automaker Saab has avoided bankruptcy.

A former Saturn auto plant in Tennessee could get new life.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Another African-American woman says the Transportation Security Administration patted down her hair.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) has come out against a gas tax increase in her state.

The Indianapolis airport will soon be home to one of the largest energy farms in the country.

Dallas' International Airport is expanding.

A group formed to lobby for the families of victims of a plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y, said Tuesday that a recent hire by the association that advocates for airlines was an example of the revolving door critics say prevent government from acting on behalf of regular people.

The Air Transport Association announced this summer it was hiring former White House Special Assistant Sean Kennedy to be its Senior Vice President of government affairs.

An advocacy group created in the wake of the Buffalo crash, the Families of Continental Flight 3407, criticized the move as being an impediment to their push for stricter pilot regulations.

“We say we have a representative form of government, but is it representing ordinary people like us or simply those with the most money or the right connections?,” New York resident John Kausner, whose daughter Ellyce was killed in the Flight 3407 crash, said in a statement. “We have done everything possible as citizens to have our voices heard by our government, including over forty trips to Washington at our own expense.  But how can we compete when we do not have any plum, six-figure salary, senior vice president positions to offer to someone who probably has all the top OMB officials on speed-dial?"

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) on Wednesday said President Obama's repeated calls for higher taxes on corporate executives who use corporate jets is killing the U.S. general aviation industry, as are new and proposed rules that raise taxes and invade the privacy of corporate jet users.

"He demonizes general aviation users," Pompeo said of Obama on the House floor. "He calls them corporate fat cat jet owners at every turn. But it's not impacting the folks who use those as business tools. It's impacting the people who build these airplanes.

"His rhetoric kills sales of American manufactured goods, and with them the jobs that are created when those airplanes are built," he added.

In his standoff with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) over a bill to fund highway and aviation programs last week, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was never trying to shut down the agencies, a spokesman told The Hill on Tuesday.

Instead, Coburn was trying to stop Reid from tying the funding for the Federal Aviation Administration to road-beautification projects, Coburn spokesman John Hart said.

“I don’t think the [Communication Workers of America] understands [Senator] Coburn’s position,” Hart said in an email to The Hill. “[Senator] Coburn was never threatening to ‘shutdown’ the FAA.  He was objecting to Majority Leader Reid’s decision to hold FAA hostage to the transportation enhancement program. What’s extreme, in our view, is linking funding for squirrel sanctuaries to the FAA bill. The CWA may want to do a little more homework next time.” 

Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) performed CPR and administered defibrillation on a man in cardiac arrest in a North Carolina airport on Tuesday, Roe’s office confirmed.

Roe rushed to an unidentified man’s aid in the Charlotte airport Tuesday morning, performed CPR, and used the emergency medical technicians’ equipment in order to shock the man’s heart, according to Roe’s office. 

Roe was able to restart the man’s heart.

“I bet the guy wasn’t down probably 30 seconds before Phil was taking care of him. They gave him CPR for like 5 or 6 minutes. They pumped his chest pretty good. It was work, it was pretty intimidating to watch,” Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), Roe’s traveling companion, told The Daily Caller.

Mulvaney said he saw the man’s heartbeat flatline.

“The guy was dead. There’s no question,” Mulvaney said. “This guy is alive because of Phil Roe and a couple other very important people at the airport.”

Roe earned his medical degree from the University of Tennessee. He served two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps,and practiced as an obstetrician before running for office.

This story was updated at 2 p.m.

The flight attendants union urged House Republicans to drop controversial labor provisions that have held up a long-term FAA bill.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an air-show crash in Nevada that killed nine people.

The Transportation Security Administration is ramping up testing of its "known-traveler" program to ease airport security waits for frequent flyers.

The Air Transport Association is opposing new rules for pilot fatigue being considered by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The economy has been good for at least one segment of the transportation industry: auto repairs.