During Wednesday’s Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) questioned Franklin McIntosh, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the Air Traffic Organization at the Federal Aviation Administration, about maintenance of weather systems.
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00:00Thank you. Senator Sullivan.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to appreciate the witnesses today.
00:09By the way, I'm a big fan of our military. I'm on the Armed Services Committee.
00:15But I will say the Army needs to really up its game on being more forthcoming on this latest incident.
00:22I have actually requested from my position on the Armed Services Committee a briefing.
00:28I certainly hope it's not some big shot general who thinks he needs a quick trip over to the Pentagon
00:33and will blow off the FAA safety requirements.
00:39That better not be what happened, but they need to start giving answers to this committee and other committees
00:45because what happened was just unacceptable.
00:49So we'll continue to press them on that, but they really haven't been that forthcoming.
00:53I want to focus on the Alaska Safety Initiative that the FAA has worked with me and this committee on.
01:01This was the outgrowth of a 10-year study by the NTSB that showed we had crash rates
01:07that were almost two and a half times the rate of the rest of the country.
01:12Fatality rates were much higher than the rest of the country as well.
01:17So working with the FAA, we instituted the Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative, FASI,
01:24and last year's FAA reauthorization, we were able to get a whole bunch of things in that bill
01:32that related to Alaska Aviation Safety.
01:34A goal of reducing the rate of fatal aircraft accidents by 90% through 2033 requires the FAA
01:44to improve maintenance of weather equipment and growing those weather equipment issues.
01:51As you know, many of our rural airports don't have any weather reporting,
01:57which in the lower 48, nobody would accept that.
02:01Dozens and dozens.
02:02And I will say I want to compliment Secretary Duffy.
02:06He is delivering on these promises.
02:08So is the president.
02:09The FAA announced a $25 million investment in the FASI initiative at the beginning of April
02:15and a significant expansion of the FAA's use of satellites in Alaska
02:23to help support connectivity and weather monitoring.
02:28The president actually announced with Secretary Duffy just on May 8th in their press conference
02:34a dramatic increase in the number of new weather observation stations in Alaska.
02:42So we really, really appreciated that.
02:45Of course, Senator Cruz mentioned all the other upgrades that they both announced
02:52at this very important press conference last week that I'm fully supportive of.
02:57So I want to thank Secretary Duffy, the FAA, the president,
03:01on really focusing on delivering on a number of these issues.
03:05Can I ask you on the weather observation systems in the maintenance?
03:11You know, we don't have enough.
03:13The president and Secretary Duffy acknowledge that with this dramatic announcement.
03:18But where are we on the maintenance issues for maintaining our weather systems?
03:27As you know, we'll have a weather reporting AWOS system that goes down in a small rural community
03:32that has an airport in it.
03:35It'll take a long time to get an FAA official out there to fix it.
03:41So do we have an update on that?
03:42I think that was required in the FAA bill for 60 days after an enactment.
03:50Senator Sullivan, I'm going to have to take an IOU on that one.
03:53I'm sorry, I do not have an answer.
03:54I do know that we talk about this all the time.
03:56When we do have an outage, I often speak with my team,
03:59and usually the hardest thing is the accessibility to get there,
04:03not via any of our transportation mechanisms,
04:05but sometimes it's the weather or some of the terrain.
04:07But I will give you an answer.
04:08A lot of these communities, we have over 230 communities in Alaska
04:11that are not connected by roads.
04:13Yes, sir.
04:13A lot of people don't know that.
04:15So the only way to get in is through an airplane or a boat
04:19if the community is on a river.
04:20So that's why this is so important.
04:23And if you don't have weather reporting,
04:25then you have no idea what it's like to fly in there,
04:27and, you know, we have some pretty nasty weather in my state.
04:29I would, so as in, we do recognize aviation
04:32is the primary form of transportation for Alaska
04:35and that the need to provide support for resources,
04:40food, and medical supplies is paramount.
04:42We recognize that,
04:43and we definitely want to make sure
04:46that we are doing everything we can
04:48so the people that are relying on us
04:51have the faith that we're doing what we need to do.
04:54We are pursuing the large body of work
04:56that you're speaking to,
04:57and at the Secretary's request,
05:00we are doing critical investments
05:01in the things that you're speaking to
05:02with deploying dozens of AWOS's,
05:06automated weather observing systems,
05:08and also the VWOS's,
05:09the visual weather observation systems,
05:11and numerous weather cameras
05:12to make sure that there's better accessibility
05:14to the items that you're talking about.
05:16But I will take an IOU, if that's okay, sir,
05:18as far as what the repair times look like.
05:20Senator Sullivan, if I could add,
05:22I'm happy to report that we're in final,
05:25or in consultation for finalizing guidance
05:28to our Alaska office
05:31regarding the expansion
05:32of airport improvement program funding
05:34for the funding of AWOS
05:36for airports across Alaska,
05:39as well as another provision
05:40I believe you championed,
05:42special justifications for runway projects in Alaska
05:47to support community needs.
05:49Thank you, and I appreciate that,
05:50and again, I want to thank Secretary Duffy
05:52and the President.
05:53You know, he's the one who made the announcement
05:54on the weather observation systems in Alaska
05:57and the dramatic upgrade.
05:59Very quick, Mr. Chairman,
06:02one final question.
06:03I've been working with the,
06:04some of the controllers on legislation
06:08to create a shot clock
06:10for updating the ATC system
06:13from copper wiring to fiber optic technology.
06:17Would that kind of push from us help you guys?
06:20I know you need the funding,
06:21but this issue of copper wires,
06:23the Chairman just mentioned it,
06:24the Secretary's been mentioning it.
06:27It is something about speed for data that we need,
06:30and unfortunately,
06:30our systems are really slow.
06:34What do you think about something like that?
06:37Senator Sullivan,
06:38I will say that we would appreciate bipartisan support
06:41for our infrastructure.
06:42It's sorely needed,
06:44and fiber is a large piece
06:46of the infrastructure improvements
06:47that we're asking for
06:48to replace copper that's currently there.
06:50Great.