News and Media

Reported by Airport Improvement. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association joineda coalition of aviation industry organizations in sending a letter to Congress today outlining the need for increased investments to hire and train more air traffic controllers and to modernize equipment. The letter pointed out that for “the aviation system to flourish we must meaningfully invest in the staffing, safety systems, and facilities that are the backbone to…

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Reported by The Guardian. The US aviation sector on Wednesday called for “robust emergency funding” from Congress for air traffic control technology and staffing after a series of crashes that have raised alarm. Airlines for America, the Aerospace Industries Association, International Air Transport Association and others, including major aviation unions, urged Congress in a joint letter to take action,…

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Reported by Oriana Pawlyk for Politico Pro. Dozens of aviation industry groups — including the trade group for airlines and the union that represents air traffic controllers — on Wednesday called on lawmakers not to privatize air traffic control, amid burgeoning interest from the Trump administration in “improving” the aviation system. The letter to top…

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Reported by People’s World. Corporate greed by the railroad lobby sidetracked an important rail safety bill in the last Congress that would have forced all freight railroads to put safety and people over profits, rail union leaders say. So now they and three lawmakers are trying again, hoping for a helper in the vice presidential…

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Reported by Julie Sneider for Progressive Railroading. In yet another sign that rail safety will be a bipartisan issue in the 119th Congress, four House representatives on Feb. 3 rolled out a newer version of the Railway Safety Act, building off a similar proposal introduced in March 2023 but not passed in the aftermath of…

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Reported by American Journal of Transportation. Yesterday, rail union leaders gathered for a virtual media briefing to call for safety reforms across the freight rail industry on the two-year anniversary of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. House Transportation Committee Vice Ranking Member Emilia Sykes (D-OH-13), Rail Subcommittee Ranking Member Dina Titus (D-NV-01),…

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Reported by Progressive Railroading. On the second anniversary of the Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the nation’s rail labor unions are asking all Class Is to fully join the Federal Railroad Administration’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). The FRA’s C3RS is a long-standing program that allows workers to confidentially report “close call”…

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Reported by Ellie Borst and Mike Lee for E&E News. The Trump administration is still on board with legislation on rail safety, Vice President JD Vance said on the two-year anniversary of the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.Vance, who co-sponsored the bipartisan “Railway Safety Act” as a Republican senatorrepresenting Ohio, said during a…

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Reported by Mark Gruenberg and John Bachtell for People’s World. The normal control tower staffing at the Washington airport is one controller per plane and one per helicopter. When the crash happened the staffing level was only half that with just one aircraft controller having to do both jobs. In fact, there was only one…

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