Newsroom
FAA Opens Public Comment Period on Noise Policy Review
Agency to hold virtual webinarsOral Testimony of Billy Nolen, Acting Administrator Federal Aviation Administration, Hearing Before the Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies: The Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request
Good morning, Chairman Cole, Ranking Member Quigley, and Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA operates the safest and most efficient aerospace system in the world. But this has not come by accident. Simply put: Safety is not free. The recent close calls remind us that safety requires continuous, predictable, and robust funding.
The President’s budget request of $19.8 billion for the next fiscal year, combined with the $5 billion the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides to reduce the backlog of airport and air traffic projects, is critical to maintain our safety record. This is especially important in two key areas of the FAA’s work: operation of the air traffic system and our oversight of airlines, manufacturers, and crews.
This budget requests an additional $26.2 million over this year’s budget to strengthen our safety oversight in several areas. This amount includes funding for 53 new positions to complete implementation of the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act. It also addresses recommendations from recent investigations and independent reviews following the Boeing 737 MAX accidents.
Additional funding for 72 positions will supplement existing core safety programs, including efforts to improve certification of small airplanes, safety data analysis, and other key aviation safety activities. The remaining funding will strengthen aviation and hazardous materials safety oversight, a critical component of our overall strategy.
We expect that air traffic will meet or exceed pre-pandemic levels this year, and we don’t see that growth slowing down. To deliver the safe services everyone expects, the budget seeks $117 million to increase the hiring of air traffic controllers and to reduce the air traffic controller training backlog created during COVID.
We plan to hire 1,800 trainees in FY 2024, an increase of 300 above the 1,500 we are hiring this fiscal year.
Funding to hire and train air traffic controllers is only part of the equation. They need modern equipment and fully maintained buildings to perform their duty. One such piece of equipment is the NOTAM system. This request includes $19.6 million to retire our aging databases and applications and move to a more reliable, modern system. The request takes our modernization efforts one step further by providing $115 million toward accelerating other priority projects. This funding will allow the FAA the flexibility to respond to unexpected events and to increase capital investments when needed.
But we cannot modernize for tomorrow if we don’t keep pace for today. Many of our air traffic buildings need urgent attention. The budget asks for $510.8 million in the Facilities & Equipment account to improve our air traffic control facilities. Our backlog of uncompleted renovations and repairs for facilities that directly support operations is $5.3 billion. The average en route traffic center or combined control building is 61 years old. More than 50 percent of the terminal radar control facilities are more than 40 years old.
Members of the committee, civil aviation makes up more than 5 percent of the United States’ GDP. The funding that you provide is a worthwhile investment in our country’s future. This is not hyperbole: The budget cuts that have been considered by some would be raw, they would be deep, and they would be impactful to the flying public. Cuts will slow modernization of old systems, hobble our effort to train more controllers, and jeopardize our work to usher in the next era of aviation.
I can guarantee you the FAA will be good stewards of the funding you provide. We look forward to your support, and I am happy to take your questions.
Advanced Aviation Innovation Summit
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Thank you, Lisa, for the introduction and your invitation to join today’s Innovation Summit. I greatly appreciate the Commercial Drone Alliance’s efforts to unite innovators and policymakers in settings like this, and I’m pleased to see so many of my FAA colleagues involved today, alongside their counterparts in industry.
In his remarks, Carlos Monje told you about the work that is happening across the government, and efforts to make sure that all work is coordinated. I believe working together has never been so important, because we truly are in uncharted territory! We have a dynamic and exciting industry ready to take on the world . . . but to take it on, the government has to make sure it’s safe. That’s right. The government!
I can almost hear your eyeballs roll. But seriously… if we want flying taxis and BVLOS deliveries to be as routine as riding in an Uber, the public must have faith that these operations will be safe. And that’s the FAA’s responsibility. The public has the same safety expectations for all of you that they do when they fly commercial— as do our lawmakers.
The FAA does have some heavy lifting to do. I’m sure most of you know that it takes on average about 18 months to complete a rule. That is why whenever possible, we use existing frameworks to certify your vehicles. We are laser focused on clarifying our certification processes, and I welcome your feedback. You absolutely deserve to know how the process works and how to get started.
We are making progress. For example, on the AAM side, we have issued the certification basis—think of it as the blueprint that manufacturers need to meet—for two vehicles. And we anticipate more to come.
We are on pace to release the standards pilots must meet by the time the first generation of AAM aircraft are certified. They will ensure a pilot can operate aircraft that have characteristics of both helicopter and fixed-wing. And in May, we will release the FAA’s AAM Implementation Plan, which will show how all these pieces will come together allowing the industry to scale safely.
While we have made progress on the AAM front, we know that efforts on drones have taken longer than you want – longer than we want. During my year leading the FAA, we have started to fix this. Last year, we issued the first type certificate for Matternet.
Completing BVLOS is a top priority for all of us, and we’re in the early stages of developing the rule. We are committed to creating a regulatory framework that matches drones’ capabilities and benefits.
We have your input from the BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee, and we are going to use that to do work diligently. Your input will also benefit the Advanced Aviation Advisory Committees meeting tomorrow.
In the meantime, we are issuing an increased number of waivers, which will help all of us better understand the capabilities of drones—and the mitigations necessary to safely fly them. Of course, the goal is to finalize a rule so we don’t have to issue waivers, but we do not want innovation and operations to stop while we work on the rule.
I know some of you are concerned that our safety mission puts us at odds with your desire to enable advanced aviation technologies … and with the process being made by our international counterparts. I’ve heard the urgent message loud and clear. And here’s what I want to tell you: there’s really not as much of a conflict as you may think…
By continuing to work together, we are moving toward a faster pace of integration while maintaining our laser focus on safety.
We do not want to slow your roll, but we will require that you roll out safely.
Since ushering in the Jet Age, the United States has regulated the world’s most complex airspace—all while maintaining an unparalleled safety record. You have heard me say this before—I repeat it often because I am that certain the FAA will continue as the exemplar for safely incorporating the novel and groundbreaking technologies that your companies represent.
That said, this body of work—safely integrating new users into the world’s most complex airspace—is no small task. It takes hard work, cooperation and commitment from all quarters. But I’m confident, as I have been all along, that with your partnership, passion and good-faith efforts, we will make this new era of aviation as magnificent as those that came before it.
Thank you.