During Wednesday’s House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) questioned Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau about necessary funding to ensure air traffic safety.
00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Acting Administrator Richelot, for being here.
00:10I think we all acknowledge here that the stakes are very high with regards to air safety.
00:18And the FAA is in the business of air safety.
00:22I myself, in addition to other members, it's a bipartisan group of five members who are on a plane whose wing was clipped at Reagan while taxiing.
00:35This is just a few months after the horrible accident that took so many lives.
00:42So safety is really in danger for the American public.
00:49And we had Secretary Duffy testify, and he acknowledged that the skinny budget fell severely short of the kind of investment that is needed to meet the challenge of safety.
01:03And we see an increase, but it still falls short of the $31 billion that are required to ensure that the American public is safe while traveling.
01:14As we approach the holiday season and other important seasons, we approach the World Cup, the Olympics, there's going to be a substantial increase in travel here.
01:28And we're not ready.
01:30In fact, some of the changes that need to be made are going to take some time.
01:36So we may even, they may even require a supplemental budget.
01:41So my, my question first is, do you acknowledge that we're short at the $22 billion level?
01:49And do you feel that we need a supplemental to, to meet the demand?
01:54Thanks for the question.
01:55There is a lot of activity.
01:56Look forward to the World Cup and a number of the other things.
01:59I, as, as we have programmed here in the, in the budget request, I believe this is appropriate for what we need to do with respect to moving from copper wire to fiber optic.
02:13I believe it is appropriate to supercharge controllers to get in the system.
02:17And it will take some time, which is why we're at it.
02:19How much time it'll take?
02:20For, sorry, for us to meet the demand, you know, for the World Cup, for the Olympics, for heavy travel during the holidays.
02:29So, so I should have started with this.
02:31The system is safe and will continue to be safe.
02:33We will make sure of that.
02:34The 45,000 people at the FAA will make sure of that.
02:37I would also, we have gaps in air traffic controller, uh, supervision of, uh, air travel and, and landing and takeoff, uh, in Newark and severely putting people in danger.
02:51How long is the overall plan to be ready and really at an optimum?
02:57We will maintain the safety of the system.
02:59We may slow it down, but we will maintain the safety of the system.
03:01Can you give me a time frame?
03:02I, I, I believe, particularly engaging with Congress here, when we talk about the Secretary's plan for a big, bold, and the, and the President is a champion of this as well, for a new air traffic system, we're looking at a three to four year period.
03:17I believe we can get there.
03:18Do you think that will require a supplemental budget?
03:21That I think will be bipartisan in scope.
03:23I think everybody wants safety.
03:24I, I wouldn't disagree.
03:25We're going to need Congress's help for additional funding.
03:28We'll need a supplemental.
03:28Okay, uh, my next question is, uh, Elon Musk, uh, recently pushed for the FAA to use, uh, his Starlink satellite for air traffic control.
03:40That's been reported.
03:41Do you ever had, have you ever had a conversation with Mr. Musk, uh, personnel at the White House or Dodge staff about potentially using Starlink for air traffic control systems?
03:55I've never had a conversation with Elon Musk.
03:58I have worked very closely to make sure that as we experiment with new capabilities, including satellite technologies like Starlink.
04:05Well, have you had a conversation with the White House, uh, staff, uh, or, or even with Dodge staff about using Starlink?
