Mark DeSaulnier

01/25/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/25/2023 16:27

Congressman DeSaulnier Effort to Increase Aviation Safety and Efficiency Passes in House

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10) announced House passage of the NOTAM Improvement Act (H.R. 346), bipartisan legislation he co-leads with Congressman Pete Stauber (R-MN) to increase aviation safety and efficiency. Specifically, this bill would establish a task force under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to review and provide recommendations to update and improve aviation safety notifications to pilots and prevent failures of the notice to air missions (NOTAM) system, like the one that occurred earlier this month causing thousands of cancelled and delayed flights. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 424-to-4.

"As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it is my mission to protect the safety of the flying public. Following the FAA meltdown earlier this month, it is clearer than ever that improvements must be made to our aviation safety systems," said Congressman DeSaulnier. "I am proud to have been leading the effort to upgrade the NOTAM system with Congressman Stauber and to push the FAA and the aviation industry to ensure a safe, efficient, and reliable service for American consumers, which I have been calling for since the near-miss aircraft incident at San Francisco International Airport in 2017."

"Failures of the NOTAM system earlier this month stressed the need to upgrade the program to ensure the safety of pilots, their crews and passengers," said Congressman Stauber. "I've heard from many pilots over the years about the vulnerabilities of the NOTAM system and this bill to address the issue has passed with bipartisan support the last two Congresses. My hope is that the Senate acts and passes this important legislation to help ensure another NOTAM system failure does not occur."

Specifically, the NOTAM Improvement Act would create the FAA Task Force on NOTAM Improvement to:

  • Review existing methods for presenting NOTAMs and flight information to pilots;
  • Review regulations and policies related to NOTAMs, including their content and presentation to pilots;
  • Evaluate and determine best practices to organize, prioritize, and present flight operations information in a manner that optimizes pilot review and retention of relevant information;
  • Provide recommendations to improve the presentations of NOTAM information and ensure its stability and cybersecurity; and
  • Report to Congress on its review and evaluations.

Congressman DeSaulnier is a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure where he has served on the Aviation Subcommittee. As part of his ongoing effort to improve aviation safety, Congressman DeSaulnier also authored the Safe Landings Act (H.R. 6976) to help avoid near-miss aircraft incidents like the one that occurred at San Francisco International Airport in July of 2017.