FAA Hiring Air Traffic Controllers

Aviation Festival Americas – Promoting Passenger Safety

Hello everyone. I’m Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen, and I’m honored to speak at Aviation Festival Americas about how the FAA promotes passenger safety.  

A very wise man once said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens….nothing.”

For the FAA, safety promotion means getting the word out to change behaviors. If we do nothing, something terrible certainly could happen. 

When the data shows trends we don’t like, we join the left and right halves of the FAA brain so to speak—our technical experts who have the data with our creative folks who have the communication skills—to come up with innovative ways to get our safety message out.

We take to the airwaves, the media, and social media—YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn—with targeted messaging. While flying is the safest way to travel and emergencies are rare, we arm travelers with safety information they can use before and during their flight.

Now the FAA isn’t in a social media league with Ronaldo or Justin Bieber, but with 1.6 million followers, we do engage with many influencers, stakeholders, and travelers.

Recently we’ve been engaging a great deal about unruly passengers, a phrase that has unfortunately gained new prominence in the American lexicon along with COVID-19. It’s an area where the FAA has done a great deal of safety promotion—we’ve reached millions of travelers through creative videos and images across our social media platforms and through all of the major news outlets.   

While we’ve always had a certain number of unruly passenger incidents every year, it got a lot worse two years ago when passengers were required to begin wearing masks. We immediately began to see an increase in reported events. It was clear that rules were not being followed, putting crews and passengers at risk. 

Alcohol, assaults, and refusal to wear masks were common themes in the incidents. Like the inebriated Frontier Airlines passenger in December 2020 who refused to follow a flight attendant’s instructions, would not wear a mask, and kept arguing with those seated next to him. In a final act of immaturity, he hit the passenger next to him on the head. 

In case you’re wondering, we had the last word. After an investigation, we levied a $20,000 fine on the passenger. 

Unfortunately the unruly passenger phenomena escalated in January 2021, and when the TSA issued its mask mandate based on CDC guidance in early February, it got even worse. 

In 2020, we’d been seeing fewer than three reported unruly passenger incidents per 10,000 flights. But in 2021, the rate more than quadrupled. 

My predecessor, Steve Dickson, took forceful action, announcing a zero-tolerance policy. In the past, the FAA addressed unruly passenger issues using a toolbox of warnings, counseling, and civil penalties. With the new policy, we went right to the hammer—zero tolerance, no warnings, legal action, and fines for any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members. 

In February 2021, we publicized the first fine under the zero-tolerance policy for an unruly passenger—$27,500 for a Delta Air Lines passenger who refused to wear his mask, secure his seat tray table, and fasten his seatbelt before takeoff. In the months that followed, we issued more press releases, all detailing similar egregious behavior. 

There was cause for optimism however—the data showed that the unruly passenger rates were steadily decreasing through the winter and spring of 2021. By early summer, the rates were down, but still not back to 2020 levels. 

Zero tolerance and fines were working, but we needed to do more. The trick was how to get the message out to the people who really needed to see it. 

We put our safety promotion machine into high gear, developing a series of socially relevant and creative social media memes to draw attention to the problem 

We also reached out to some pretty non-traditional media channels—well at least for a federal agency—to get the story out to the people that needed to see it. 

In early summer, we launched the first in what would be a series of Public Service Announcements, taking a cue from the ancient texts… “The young and innocent are often unexpectedly wise.”

We packaged all of the content into a Zero Tolerance for Unruly and Dangerous Behavior toolkit….which you can find at FAA.gov/unruly to keep airports, airlines, our partners like TSA, media, and the public informed. 

The unruly passenger problem didn’t stop, but the rate of incidents continues to drop. When combined with the removal of the mask mandate in April, we are in a much better place today, but we continue to monitor for trends and message where needed. 

The lessons learned from the unruly passenger experience are helping us in other areas, including safety messaging for how and what travelers pack in their suitcases. 

It might seem like a no-brainer, but with Fourth of July coming, we’ll be reminding travelers in the coming weeks that it’s not a good idea—and in fact it’s illegal—to take your fireworks on the plane 

Fireworks are just one of the prohibited hazardous materials that TSA screeners find in carry-on and checked bags, items that could seriously jeopardize the safety of everyone on the plane.

The FAA doesn’t regulate hazardous materials on aircraft—that’s the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration job—but we are responsible for making sure airlines, cargo carriers, and passengers know how to pack and ship goods safely.

So our hazmat safety inspection teams work with PHMSA, the TSA and others, both here and internationally, to scour reports for incidents like fire, smoke, or extreme heat involving lithium batteries. 

That can include laptops and phones going into thermal runaway, or e-cigarettes—vapes—catching fire. 

A few years ago, the data showed a growing number of incidents where the lithium batteries in the vapes were overheating and posing fire risk. That’s why e-cigarettes and vapes were banned from checked bags. While we don’t want any device to overheat, if it’s carried in the cabin, we can at least get to it quickly and extinguish the fire. 

Our data still showed some passengers continued to pack vapes incorrectly, that is, in checked bags. So we developed a social media campaign called “Vapes on a Plane”, alerting passengers to the fire dangers of e-cigarettes and vapes, and showing them the safety precautions they should follow. It’s all part of our “Pack Safe” safety promotion campaign, which is a big part of our response to these types of incidents. 

We regularly push out social media blasts that are timely for the season—like 4th of July and fireworks—and we provide a full roundup of how or if you can carry a wide variety of materials onboard aircraft on our website FAA.gov/go/packsafe.

The good news in all of this is that, at the end of the day, there are far more travelers who follow the rules than don’t, and we appreciate the help. For FAA’s part, we are always watching the data, and we are always promoting so that something great happens—safety. 

If you have more questions about our work with hazardous materials, you have a unique opportunity at the Festival—our experts are in Miami in person. Stop by and see them. 

Thank you for listening.
 

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FAA-EASA Safety Conference – Welcome Remarks

Remarks as prepared for delivery.

Thank you, Eric [Fanning]. Good afternoon, everyone. 

I’m happy that we’re all able to finally gather, in person, for this important safety conference. 

I understand we have more than 350 people, with many of our safety partners and industry stakeholders here throughout the world.

In some ways, it seems like the last two and a half years – dealing with the pandemic – has gone by quick. And yet, so much has happened; and so much continues to happen. 

Change has always been constant. But in aviation, it’s happening faster and faster. We’re seeing tremendous levels of new technology and innovation in this industry.

And that brings both excitement, opportunity, and challenge all at the same time.

If aviation isn’t safe, then it doesn’t matter how exciting it is; or what the promised benefits are.   

As safety professionals, our job is to ensure safety. The close relationship between the FAA and EASA over the past decade, coupled with our ties with other civil aviation authorities, has created the foundation to make aviation even safer around the world. 

This conference is a chance to build on that foundation.

President John F. Kennedy once said that “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

When we create ways to improve safety in aviation, we can share that knowledge to lift safety all across the world.  

Americans, and increasingly every person across the globe, expect the high level of safety that we have in North America and Europe … they expect that in every airspace.

Our challenge is to make that happen, all while allowing the tremendous innovation to safely occur that we’re seeing in aviation today. 

The U.S.-EU Aviation Safety Agreement is the bedrock of our partnership, allowing us to validate each other’s certifications of aviation products and parts … and maximize reliance on each other for approvals and monitoring of repair stations and maintenance. 

This agreement is vital to maintaining a safe aerospace system on both continents during the most dynamic period in aviation history since the dawn of the jet age. 

We must recommit ourselves to this framework. Its structure and process pushes us to collaborate, while holding each aviation authority accountable. When we collaborate, both sides can devote more resources to areas that pose a higher safety risk. 

Stepping outside our agreements would diminish an important tool that has enabled us to work together to achieve the safest period in aviation history. 

I’m encouraged that we’ve expanded the agreement by implementing annexes to cover both pilot licensing and flight simulators. 

Since last year, we have been aligning schedules on flight simulator evaluations, resulting in more timely completion, and less duplication, of these evaluations.

Also, applications for conversion of pilot certificates under the Pilot Licensing Annex are increasing for both EASA and the FAA, with dozens of licenses issued to date.

Best of all, this has been a smooth implementation process.      

The FAA and EASA have also worked closely together, along with fellow civil aviation authorities, on the safety evaluations of the 737 MAX aircraft.  

We learned important lessons together during that review. And that we have to work across oceans to improve global pilot training standards for increasingly complex aircraft.

One of the ways we’re doing that is through our participation and leadership in ICAO’s Personnel Licensing and Training Panel.

The success of our work together on the 737 MAX also reaffirmed the importance of Safety Management Systems, and the need to broaden these programs.

In the FAA, we’ve seen the benefits of SMS in driving down safety risk for commercial aviation, which is why we are working to expand SMS requirements to manufacturers, airports, and aviation service providers.

And from proactive initiatives like SMS, fatigue risk management, safety reporting programs and others, we have collected a significant amount of safety data. 

The more we can collect, analyze and share safety data, and discuss safety issues openly and transparently between stakeholders throughout the world, the better we can achieve a more predictive aviation safety system. 

The FAA is actively expanding our portfolio of data collection and analytics tools. And we’re evolving toward using predictive analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to yield cleaner, consistent streams of safety data. 

Through these tools, we’ll be able to more effectively share safety data with industry stakeholders and international partners.

Through open sharing of safety information, we’ve made aviation safer around the world.

We also need to be open and transparent about complex challenges like pilot mental health. We need to encourage our pilots, and all aviation professionals, that they should ask for help the moment they begin to experience emotional or mental health challenges. They should start treating the underlying problems before they become worse. 

The FAA firmly believes there should be no stigma, or fears, about coming forward and being open about mental health challenges.

When it comes to pilot mental health, or other safety issues, we’ve learned that being open, transparent and proactive has been the key our success.  

And the same holds true when it comes to mitigating cyber risk. 

Cyber threats don’t respect borders on a map. And that’s why we want to harmonize our cyber security efforts with EASA and other civil aviation authorities. 

The FAA is also working through ICAO to design a global mechanism called the International Trust Framework. It will enable us to share aviation information with only trusted entities – across the international ecosystem. 

The more we can collaborate, and share best practices, the better we can safely and securely integrate the tremendous innovation we’re seeing throughout the industry today. 

Whether that is drones, advanced air mobility, supersonic business jets, alternatively powered aircraft, or other development types of aircraft, our job is to provide the regulatory framework to ensure high safety standards, while allowing dreamers to continue dreaming. 

A decade ago, most would have thought having nearly one million drones safely integrated into the airspace was just a crazy dream. But today, that is a reality. 
    And now we’re building the framework for the next dream to become reality. We are currently reviewing recommendations from an aviation rulemaking committee on how to enable safe, routine, drone operations beyond visual line of sight, or B-V-LOS, as we call it. 

We’re also developing a phased rulemaking plan for BVLOS operations – with initial phases focusing on flights at low altitudes and creating drone-specific airworthiness requirements. Follow-on phases will clear the way for more tailored approval paths for package delivery. 

We’ve stayed in close contact with our EU colleagues and other global regulators on these drone regulatory developments. 

We’ve also collaborated with 64 other civil aviation authorities, including many in Europe, on the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems.     

And we’re looking ahead to Advanced Air Mobility, or AAM. These are radically different vehicles, but the framework we have in place for crewed aircraft is agile enough to accommodate them. 

We already have several AAM aircraft in the certification process, which we expect to certify in the 2024 timeframe, provided safety allows. These types of operations have the potential to better connect smaller communities with big cities. 

As a global aviation community, we must continue to work together to address all safety concerns, so that we can enable these game-changing innovations, in a way that is seamless around the world.

At this conference, we’ll also put a focus on strengthening aviation’s resilience.

Over the past two years, the FAA and the EU have worked together, along with other partners, through all three phases of the ICAO Council’s Aviation Recovery Taskforce. 

Through this forum, we provided consistent guidance for air carriers and airports to protect airline passengers and workers from virus exposure and transmission. We also provided guidance on virus testing, quarantining, and transporting of vaccines.  

Today, we’re living in a world where the potential for more wide-spread pandemics is a real concern. We have to apply the lessons we’ve learned over the past two years, so that we can be more resilient if we face another type of outbreak similar to COVID-19. 

Indeed, through our collaboration, the United States, Europe, and other nations have been successful at developing, and leading with, a proactive safety approach. We’ve created that rising tide that has lifted aviation, making it the safest mode of transportation in the world.

Now, our collective goal must be to develop a fully predictive safety system. This conference will help us make that journey. Let’s make it productive!

At this time, I’d like to introduce Patrick Ky, Executive Director of EASA. He has served in this position for nine years.

Prior to this position, Patrick was in charge of Europe’s ATM modernization program, SESAR. 

He has more than 24 years of experience in civil aviation, having held managerial positions in the French Civil Aviation Authority and at Eurocontrol. 

Let’s welcome, Patrick.

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ALTA Pan American Safety Summit keynote speech – FAA’s Promotion of Safety Culture

Remarks as prepared for delivery.

Thank you, José [Botelho]. Good morning, everyone. José noted some of my background. 

I’ve been an aviation professional for more than 33 years. I have flown, and worked, all around the world. 

I was a captain for American Airlines, and I flew in and out of many airports throughout this region. 

I served in executive positions at Qantas and WestJet airlines. 

And today, I serve as the FAA’s Chief Safety Officer, and also currently serving as the FAA’s Acting Administrator. 

Throughout my career, I’ve seen what I call “pockets of excellence” in safety culture around the world. 

I’ve seen this at Qantas, and how they look at safety risk and leverage data to maintain a very mature safety organization. 

I’ve also seen this culture at the FAA and other civil aviation authorities, who work closely with stakeholders to reduce safety risks. 

And I’ve seen excellence in individual professionals -- for instance, like Ambassador Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger – who will speak to us by video today. 

He and his crew knew exactly how to respond when a bird strike caused the engines on their aircraft to lose power shortly after takeoff.

We want to identify, learn from, and model, these “pockets of excellence”. 

That is why we are all here at the ALTA Pan American Safety Summit -- to identify, learn, and model best practices in safety culture. 

In the U.S., we take a proactive safety approach. Now our goal is to become predictive.  

We’ve seen the benefits of Safety Management Systems, or SMS, in driving down safety risk for commercial aviation, which is why we are working to expand SMS requirements to manufacturers, airports, and aviation service providers.

And from proactive initiatives like SMS, fatigue risk management, and other efforts, we have gained a significant amount of safety data. 

The more we can collect, analyze, and share safety data, and discuss safety issues openly and transparently between stakeholders throughout the world, the better we can achieve a fully predictive aviation safety system. 

Of course, safety challenges evolve and new ones appear. It’s why we must mature from just preventative … to actually predictive – and culture and data are key to this. 

We want to see a Just Culture throughout the region, where aviation professionals can openly report unintentional mistakes and safety concerns without fear of punishment. 

We’re encouraged that a number of nations in this region are working to establish non-punitive safety reporting systems. In this regard, I would like to recognize efforts to establish collaborative safety teams modeled after the U.S. Commercial Aviation Safety Team, or CAST, as we call it. 

Brazil’s “B-CAST” is gaining traction … and other CAST-like teams are being developed in Argentina … Columbia … Ecuador … Mexico … and Peru. 

The FAA is eager to support these efforts and continue sharing what we’ve learned in this area.  

We’re also actively expanding our portfolio of data collection and analytics tools. And evolving toward using predictive analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to yield cleaner, consistent streams of safety data. 

Through these tools, we’ll be able to more effectively share safety data with industry stakeholders and international partners. In fact, one of the FAA’s strategic priorities is to develop a global safety information exchange.  

And while SMS and safety reporting are essential programs to have in place, it’s important to stress that a mature safety culture is what makes these programs successful. Safety culture is about the attitudes, values, and behaviors that our people have.

In a mature safety culture, aviation professionals feel empowered to speak up, courageously, in tough situations. For instance, last month, there was an incident at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, in which an FAA controller stopped an international flight from taking off when she saw smoke. 

The pilot downplayed it as “normal”. But the controller pushed back and held fast, with safety being her priority. It turned out that there was a significant issue with the bearing on the landing gear that could have led to a significant event had they taken off.

We also witnessed another great example of strong safety culture recently when a team of FAA controllers in Palm Beach, Florida, worked together when the pilot of a Cessna Caravan became incapacitated. The passenger who took the controls had no flying experience. Just imagine it – they had NO flying experience!

The team of controllers succeeded because they had a flexible culture without a hierarchy that strangles collaboration. Controllers asserted themselves and shared information freely, knowing they could trust each other to do their part. And through their skill and teamwork, they guided the plane down safely.

Clearly, a mature safety culture relies on all safety professionals exercising courage, trust, openness, transparency, and supportiveness. 

These values are also essential when we address the subject of pilot mental health.

We need to emphasize to our pilots, and all aviation professionals, that they should ask for help the moment they begin to experience emotional or mental health challenges. They should start treating the underlying problems before they become worse. 

And we must provide increased support to aviation professionals, and there should be no stigma, or fears, about coming forward and being open about mental health challenges.

Our chief FAA flight surgeon, Dr. Susan Northrup, will more fully discuss our efforts on pilot fatigue and mental health during the first panel this morning. 

In all of the areas I’ve discussed, the FAA is eager to partner with you, and continue sharing best practices throughout this region, for the benefit of all of us.

For example, we’ve partnered with Brazil on many fronts. Their leadership was instrumental on the Joint Authorities Technical Review of the 737 MAX aircraft. 

And after the pandemic began, the FAA partnered with Brazil on issuing safety guidance to operators carrying cargo on passenger jets, and also for carrying dry ice used in packaging COVID-19 vaccines. 

On the maintenance front, we’re working with Brazil on implementation procedures that will allow for reciprocal oversight of aircraft maintenance, overhaul, and repair activity.

We want to see more of this kind of collaboration throughout the region. To support that effort, we have representatives in Brasilia, Miami, Panama City, and soon we will have a new representative in Mexico City. 

Collaboration is essential, because this industry is changing faster and faster. As safety organizations, we must be agile, so we can enable the tremendous innovation that we’re seeing throughout the aerospace field today.  

The FAA is currently reviewing recommendations from an aviation rulemaking committee on how to enable safe, routine, drone operations beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS, as we call it. 

We’re also developing a phased rulemaking plan for these operations – with initial phases focusing on BVLOS flights at low altitudes and creating drone-specific airworthiness requirements. Follow-on phases will clear the way for more tailored approval paths for package delivery. 

And we’re looking ahead to Advanced Air Mobility, and expecting to certify the first of these aircraft around the 2024 timeframe, provided safety allows.

These types of operations have the potential to someday connect smaller communities with big cities. Before this vision can be realized, however, we must address the myriad of technical and operational safety concerns.

With the kind of innovation we continue to see, and the retirements hastened by the pandemic experience, this industry needs new people, including those with new skill sets. 

The FAA is reaching out in creative ways to recruit a diverse, next generation workforce. We run targeted hiring campaigns to encourage more women, minorities, and individuals from underrepresented communities to submit applications for air traffic control positions. 

We’re also providing financial grants to support aviation curriculums at high schools and colleges to develop the next generation of pilots and aviation maintenance technicians.

It behooves us all to make every effort to showcase the broad and diverse types of jobs available throughout the aviation sector, so we remain robust for years to come.

We’re going to need the best people not just to help us make aviation safer, but also to make it more sustainable. 

The U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan that was announced last fall seeks to accelerate action to address the climate impacts of aviation, with a national goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The FAA is doing our part. We’re implementing more fuel efficient air traffic procedures.

We’re working with industry to develop aircraft technologies that will reduce noise, emissions, and fuel burn; and expedite integration of these technologies into current and future aircraft.  

And we’re also working to scale up the production of sustainable aviation fuels, which will offer significant life-cycle greenhouse gas emission reductions.   

As much as we are doing domestically, we are committed to working across the globe bilaterally and at ICAO to reduce the aviation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, and on robust standards that integrate climate protection and safety.  

To guide us there, we need ICAO to establish a long-term climate goal – a single goal that we can all work toward as we invest and plan for the future.

I am looking forward to a productive conference. Let’s find those “pockets of excellence” in safety culture, and export them throughout the region, and the world.

And as a community, let’s also work together to achieve sustainability, and share ideas to recruit the next generation of aviation professionals.

As we do these things, we will make a lasting contribution to the success of aviation throughout the world. 

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