Reauthorization Faces White House Veto

The rejection of user fees in the FAA reauthorization bill, celebrated by both regional airlines and the general/business aviation communities, may earn the much needed legislation a veto when the bill reaches the White House. A policy statement from the White House budget office said the Senate bill does not include reforms proposed by the administration, including the imposition of user fees to “more closely align FAA’s revenues with costs” linked to system usage.
"The bill's financing and spending provisions could shift aviation costs away from the system's users and onto the shoulders of taxpayers. This is movement in the wrong direction," said the White House, adding the Senate bill is less objectionable than the House version. “If the President is presented with a bill that not only excludes the critical reforms…but also includes provisions that would further exacerbate an untenable status quo, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto it."
The Administration also objects to any provisions limiting FAA authority to restrict airport access to reduce congestion such as its twin plans at both LaGuardia and Kennedy airports in New York, the subject of a proposed amendment by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). Related Story
Increased airport funding is also objectionable along with “new mandates that would have little effect on safety but would encumber FAA with additional workload and divert needed resources from ongoing safety."
The White House objection to the House bill centers on a requirement that FAA inspect foreign repair stations twice a year. Outsourcing has gained increasing attention not only because of a scathing DOT Inspector General report but because the Teamsters and the Business Travel Coalition have maintained a drumbeat to increase FAA oversight on foreign repair stations. BTC noted that outsourcing has increased from 37 percent of maintenance expenditures for major U.S. airlines in 1996 to 64 percent in 2006. However, FAA has failed to modernize its oversight model; has downplayed the risk to passengers and homeland security from outsourcing in the absence of harmonized standards; and has passively sought the necessary funding for a world-class oversight program.
After its months long struggle to increase focus on maintenance outsourcing, the BTC announced its support on the McCaskill-Specter Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill now passing through Congress. Related Story  The amendment comes in the wake of a BTC frequent flier survey indicating that aircraft maintenance is a growing concern that is changing their travel patterns.
Sponsored by Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the amendment addresses many oversight gaps cited by the DOT Inspector General over several years and to provide funding sufficient to deal with this significant shift in maintenance work to overseas facilities.
Specifically, the amendment requires:
• The FAA to identify non-certificated repair facilities and to expand surveillance and oversight of them;
• That significant maintenance work be performed or directly supervised by FAA-certificated personnel;
• The FAA to inspect certificated foreign repair stations twice a year with at least one inspection without advance notification;
• Drug and alcohol testing for employees of foreign repair stations who perform safety-sensitive functions;
• Foreign repair stations to comply with TSA security protocols;
• The FAA to update its fee schedule for foreign repair station certification and recover the fully burdened costs of inspection programs for these stations; and
• Annual reports from the DOT Inspector General on implementation of the amendment.