Res Communis

FAA reauthorization bill would affect some airline operations

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

Source: LA Times

After delaying for more than three years a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, Congress appears ready to adopt legislation that would also make several changes in the way airlines operate.

The bill also includes a provision pushed by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to prohibit pilots from using cellphones, laptop computers and other personal electronic devices in the cockpit while flying a plane. The proposal was drafted after two Northwest pilots overshot a Minneapolis airport by 150 miles in 2009 because they were distracted by their laptops.

The bill would also give the FAA the green light to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system, upgrading it from the World War II-era radar system to a GPS-based system that FAA officials say could reduce airline delays up to 20%. [Fully story]