Sen. Cantwell each day they help keep americans moving safely. 25,000 u. S. Airline flights carrying 2. 5 million passengers across the country and around the world. Today, you will come before the committee with more than 30 years of diverse experience in aviation, including executive leadership in the private sector and three years serving as f. A. A. Deputy administrator. He led the f. A. A. s modernization of the National Air Space system known shorthand as nextgen, and i hope he will be able to illuminate today the progress that weve made, important milestones that weve achieved and what we need to do to get it finally implemented. Mr. Whitaker will bring a commitment to advancing aviation safety and appreciate his support by families who have lost loved ones and who have been very dedicated to improving aviation safety. But there are challenges that remain. Americas Aviation System is under stress, demonstrated by the number of near misses and close calls. We need to hear today about a plan on how to tackle those safety issues across our skies. The f. A. A. s work force has changed and will continue to do so over the next several years and we look forward to learning how he will be able to build a strong Safety Culture, attractive talent and renew leadership at the f. A. A. And like its work force, f. A. A. Safety systems and Technology Must also be upgraded to 21st Century Innovations and if confirmed he will have the opportunity to lead the modernization into the next era and telling us exactly how to get that done. To be the world leader in aviation, the United States must be a strong voice for safety at the international, Civil Aviation organization, icao. You have over 30 years of experience in aviation including executive roles on these Important International issues and we hope that your leadership will help the World Community continue its safety focus. We need to learn how the f. A. A. Will effectively raise the Global Safety baron Pilot Training bar on Pilot Training and Human Factors of f. The families of tragedies were critical in helping Congress Pass legislation, the aircraft certification, safety and accountability act. They support your nomination, as i mentioned. And we expect and understanding this morning on how youre going to carry out the further implementation of these critical safety reforms. The American Public deserves the safe, reliable, effective air transportation system, our economy depends on it and if confirmed youll have the opportunity not only to lead the f. A. A. , but shape americas future of aviation along with nasa. These are challenging times. But the Aviation Community and the leadership across many spectrums have the ability to get this job done and get it done correctly. So i welcome and thank you for your willingness to serve and take that leadership role in helping us. I now am going to im awaiting my colleague who has to run to judiciary, so im going to allow our colleague, senator welsh, to make an Opening Statement and then ill turn to representative graves. Sen. Welch you left out one very important fact. Hes my neighbor. Lives down the dirt road. You go down brag hill and up over a little hill and take a little left and there they are on the same dirt road. Down the street in vermont. So its wonderful to have michael here. Mary and joe. You did outline his public experience, his private experience, and i was going to do that, but youve done it so well that i dont think we need to add to it. But i do want to say a couple of things. With this extraordinary experience he has, first as a pilot, lifelong pilot, and with that constant concern about safety, because he has people hes had people he loves in his own plane, with his experience at the f. A. A. , where you have this huge, important agency, and he had the responsibility to make it work and the implementation of a very Important Program you mentioned, and then with his experience in the private sector, with United Airlines, and the very responsible big jobs he had there, how can you have more experience in every phase of whats required, to have our Flight Systems be safe, to have performance be solid, and to have the managerial experience to kind of create the team and the culture thats necessary for a wellfunctioning f. A. A. Its something that he and i spoke about at a store where, if you dont have it, you dont need it. Thats the Famous Country store. So that broad depth of experience in that decision, and this is what i also really appreciate, at a time in his life when he was doing fine, he lives on a nice place, brag hill, if anyone wants to see it, its a nice place, he wanted to serve. And we so need that in this country. To have people with the benefit of a lifelong career in the public and private sector deciding, you know what, i want to serve. So that gives me just immense confidence that were going to have a tremendous director and i yield back. Sen. Cantwell thank you, senator welch. Thank you for that very personal view of the nominee and good to know that that road might come in handy sometime for some message delivery. [laughter] representative graves, welcome, before the committee. Thank you so much. Unless senator moran, did you want to, as the subcommittee chair, make a statement . Sen. Moran [indiscernible] sen. Cantwell thank you. Representative graves, thank you so much for being here. Mr. Graves of course. Thank you, madam chair. And members of the committee. Theres a lot of familiar faces on this committee and i like that. I also very much appreciate the opportunity. It is an honor to be here today to support Michael Whitaker for administrator to the federal aviation administration. And this is a crucial time for aviation and for the f. A. A. Steadfast leadership at the f. A. A. Is paramount if we as a nation are to remain the Global Leader in aviation safety and innovation. A goal that i know this committee and the nominee unequivocally support. Its been a year and a half since the previous administrator stepped down. If you think about it, safety is dependent on consistency and unfortunately the only thing that has been consistent at the agency since the former administrator departed is the growing list of acting positions across the agency. 18 months without an f. A. A. Administrator is troubling. The American People deserve a confirmed leader who has a deep knowledge in and a passion for that matter for aviation. And because of that, im honored and pleased to introduce Michael Whitaker, hes a very qualified nominee that has been put forward for your consideration. Mr. Whitaker is currently the chief operating officer for an advanced air Mobility Company which is an aviation sector thats propelling american aviation to new heights and demands both regulatory stability and innovation. Having previously served as the f. A. A. Deputy administrator, mrt takes to helm the agency that hes been nominated to lead and hes also served many years, obviously, in the travel and airline industries. As a professional pilot myself, i appreciate the fact that he too is a g. A. Pilot. Ive spoken to him on many occasions and visited with him about the need to pass on that passion to the next generation of Young Americans and to be an advocate for aviation overall. The bottom line is is that having mr. Whitaker confirmed as the f. A. A. Administrator will help provide muchneeded certainty for the f. A. A. And the Aviation Industry, which is pivotal right now in this moment in history. In addition to confirmation of an f. A. A. Nominee, id be remiss if i didnt point out that enacting a longterm f. A. A. Reauthorization bill will bring muchneeded certainty to the Aviation Industry. The bipartisan bill that passed out of the house in july by a vote of 35169 is a fiveyear bill. And while your Committee Works toward passage of companion legislation, our shared commitment to enactment of a longterm f. A. A. Bill guarantees that the next administrator will be charged with implementing the final product of our work. This adds enormous consequence to the nomination responsibility of mr. Kit we are if he is confirmed a whitaker if he is confirmed. I want to be clear, if expect that if hes confirmed that we will not agree on everything. However, i do believe that we will have a very strong working relationship, just as ive had with his predecessors. And like his predecessors from both democrat administrations and republican administrations, i want to see him be successful in the role because that is what is in the best interest of the american Aviation Industry and in the best interest of the American People. I fought hard against the previous nominee whose lack of relevant experience was greatly concerning and thats also why im here today supporting mr. Whitaker, because i believe he is the right person for this job. As the chairman of the transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the house, my job is to hold the administration and any administrator of the f. A. A. Accountable for their actions to conduct rigorous oversight and to ensure that they are following the legislative intent of any piece of legislation that Congress Passes. And rest assured, i will do just that. But i also want to express my support for this committees consideration today of a nominee who has ex tensive qualifications extensive qualifications in the aifngation field aviation field and who is very familiar with the f. A. A. , with its importance, with its intricacies and with its shortcummings. I believe mr. With shortcomings. I believe mr. Whitaker has the experience that the f. A. A. Administrator deplanneds and demands and prepared to deliver the strong leadership thats needed to the f. A. A. Today more than ever before. I want to thank you for your time and hope the committee favorably approves mr. Whitakers nomination and acts swiftly on finalizing an f. A. A. Reauthorization. So thank you very much and i yield back. Sen. Cantwell thank you, representative graves. Again, look forward to working with you in that bipartisan fashion to get this over the goal line legislatively by the end of the year. So thank you for that. Senator cruz. Sen. Cruz thank you, madam chair. I want to welcome senator graves. Hope that weve been hospitable, maybe giving you a decent cup of coffee this morning. You dont have to answer that. [laughter] good morning, welcome, everyone. Mr. Whitaker, welcome. A snow native, something im always glad to see. Every day some three million passengers board commercial flights in and out of u. S. Airports, with the confidence that they will safely arrive at their destinations. The public trust is the result of a nearly eightdecade collaboration between the Aviation Industry and the federal aviation administration. The f. A. A. Manages 29 million square miles of air space. It ensures that aircraft and pilots meet the highest Safety Standards. And it is the f. A. A. That will ensure the safe integration of drones, air taxis and, one day, commercial space flight. When it comes to aviation safety, the buck stops with the f. A. A. We are here today to consider the nomination of Michael Whitaker for the f. A. A. Administrator. This is a crucially Important Role. The next administrator will face serious challenges in rebuilding the f. A. A. After, unfortunately, 18 months without a senateconfirmed leader. Among those challenges, staffing critical air Traffic Control facilities, modernizing antiquated air traffic systems, and bringing f. A. A. Employees back in person after three years of telework. Mr. Whitaker is President Bidens second nominee to be f. A. A. Administrator. The first was rejected by both republicans and democrats on this committee for his lack of relevant experience. Im glad that the administration has heeded my advice and nominated a person with significant experience in aviation, mr. Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker previously served as the second in command at the f. A. A. And has roughly three decades of aviation experience. As i have said since we received mr. Whitakers nomination, im willing to keep an open mind and give him fair consideration on the merits. I want to hear how hes going to address the challenges facing the f. A. A. And the Aviation Industry should he be confirmed. I also want to ensure that mr. Whitaker will focus on the f. A. A. s primary responsibility, ensuring the safety of our National Aerospace system, while having the fortitude and the clarity of mind to question assumptions and to push back against special interests. Congress gives the administrator a fiveyear term because the f. A. A. Is not a political organization. Its not intended to be a political organization. And we must keep politics out of the f. A. A. Today mr. Whitaker has the opportunity to explain to members of this committee his vision for a stagnant agency. One that is in desperate need of strong and independent leadership, willing to challenge the status quo. Mr. Whitaker, i look forward to hearing why you believe you are that independent leader and how you will meet the serious challenges faced by the f. A. A. And the Aviation Industry. Thank you. Sen. Cantwell thank you, senator cruz. Again, representative graves, thank you for being here. Mr. Whitaker, if youd come up and take an opportunity to introduce anybody you would like to introduce this morning before you give your Opening Statement. Mr. Whitaker thank you, chair cantwell. Rankerring member cruz. Members of the committee. Its an honor to appear before you today as President Bidens nominee for administrator of the f. A. A. Im grateful for this bipartisan introduction and support from my fellow vermonter and neighbor, senator welch. And also from house transportation chairman, sam graves, who has been very supportive throughout this process. I thank you both. I would not be here today if it wasnt for the love and support of my family, especially my wife, mary, who is here with me today, who has been patient and amazingly supportive throughout this process. Were here with our son joe and our daughter jordan who is watching from vermont. To begin id like to acknowledge secretary buttigieg and deputy secretary trottenberg for the Exceptional Leadership that they have shown in ensuring the f. A. A. Remains focused on its Critical Mission to provide the safest and most efficient Aerospace System in the world. Throughout my career, i have believed in this mission, not only during my previous tenure at the f. A. A. , but as an Airline Executive and now as i focus on emerging tech nothings in our air space. If confirmed i will apply my 32 years of aviation experience to lead the 44,000 dedicated professionals at the f. A. A. Who work in every u. S. State and territory and across the globe to meet this mission. I began my aviation career as an attorney for transworld airlines, then rose through the ranks of United Airlines from senior counsel in a Regulatory Group to Senior Vice President of Alliances International and regulatory affairs. More recently, i have worked with emerging aviation technologies such as small, Unmanned Systems and electric propulsion. However, the key experience that qualifies me for this position and that will allow me to make an Immediate Impact at the f. A. A. Is my threeyear tenure there as deputy administrator. During this time, i gained significant Technical Knowledge of the complex systems that make up the National Air Space. And while at f. A. A. , i also earned my private pilot certificate to better understand the National Air Space from the perspective of a user of that system. If confirmed, my priority will be the safety of the flying public. They have put their trust in the f. A. A. To keep aviation the safest way to travel and the world has looked to us for decades as the gold standard. To maintain that trust and that title, i would immediately focus on three things as administrator. First, i will work not just to maintain the Safety Record we have collectively achieved, but to build upon it. The two boeing max crashes remind us that we must be ever vigilant. The f. A. A. Must finish implementk the remaining provisions implementing the remaining provisions of the certification legislation passed by Congress Thanks to the leadership of this committee. These challenges, along with other actioners the f. A. A. Has taken actions the f. A. A. Has taken, will ensure the gaps in certification process are fully closed and that we are able to catch risks even when they are not disclosed by a manufacturer. We simply cannot become complacent and we must continuously improve as an organization. In march, the f. A. A. Announced a new goal to end serious close calls. Its critical that we achieve this. It will not be accomplished overnight but it is urgent work that must continue. Second, we need to build the Aviation System of the future. This requires the f. A. A. To be agile and creative and for all of us to make oncan going investments to make ongoing investments. While i was at the f. A. A. Just a few years ago, drones were new, commercial space launches were rare and flying taxis were still only in cartoons. All of this has changed and it requires that the agency look forward, adapt quickly and execute a plan for the future. Third, none of this can be achieved without making the f. A. A. An employer of choice where aviators want to build their careers. We must have a pipeline of dedicated Public Servants to achieve our mission. No where is this clearer than the ongoing work to catch up on air Traffic Controller hiring. The shortage has been years in the making, but you have my commitment to reduce this backlog. The f. A. A. Faces big challenges, it will take innovators and dreamers who bring ideas from every part of our country to solve them. Aviation has opened doors of opportunity for so many, including me. We must make sure it continues to do so for citizens in every corner of the country, no matter their background. Im honored by the trust the president has placed in me with this nomination. If confirmed, i will remain committed to the f. A. A. s mission and pledge to work with you and the committee to get things done. Thank you for considering my nomination and i am pleased to answer questions. Sen. Cantwell thank you. Thank you, mr. Whitaker. So appreciate you and your willingness to serve and your many years of experience. You mentioned your commitment to implementing the Safety Certification Program which some of it has been implemented but theres more to do. And i guess i would just say as a summation that the world of aviation since you left the f. A. A. Has changed significantly. You mentioned the 737 max crashes, the covid pandemic, we kept airlines moving during that time period. Recently the system outages, near miss, things of that nature. What the f. A. A. Needs to do i think are even greater challenges since when you were there before. So i want to i appreciate you saying you wanted to fully implement the law, so thank you. Thank you for that. What are your strategies for building a resilient Safety Culture at the f. A. A. . And what do you think it takes at this point in time to have that Safety Culture . I just want to mention, we were able to implement this air Grant Program and i see it already paying dividends on capitol hill and at agencies because we have the smartest Technology People here helping on the very Technical Details of aviation. The underlying acts of the bill has an integrated project team, sometimes around here we call them the gray beards. While im anxious to see how the gray beards assess technology, as you mentioned in your statement, that may not be disclosed by a manufacturer and yet you have to understand the Huge Technology change that is happening, i mean, i wonder if we shouldnt be looking at a c. T. O. , in some ways nasa is our c. T. O. But maybe on the implementation of things as we look at the outage and other things, maybe in addition to the forward thinking that nasa does for the agency, maybe a c. T. O. Or these integrated project team leaders are a key to our future. But if you could talk about what it is that you think we need to build in that intersection of changes of technology and safety. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator cantwell. Its a great question. I think there are a number of aspects to this. We need to build a strong leadership team, make sure we have the right people in the right positions and make sure theyre permanent. And we need a strong bench. So i think focusing on making sure we have the expertise in the organization is going to be key. Safety culture doesnt create itself and i think you have to constantly emphasize that it is our first mission, above all else, and everything has to be focused on that. We have to hold the line on pressure to reduce standards and make sure were keeping the system as safe as possible. The Technology Issue is a very interesting one. There are a lot of new technologies coming into the agency that you cant prove out through flight testing necessarily. Software is a good example of that. New technologies that interact with each other in ways that maybe we havent experienced in the past. So i think it is good to look at having somebody with the appropriate Technology Experience who can see the big picture when a new aircraft with new Technology Comes in, how the pieces fit together and where we can look for risks that may not be apparent otherwise. Sen. Cantwell so youre fully committed to the integrated project team and getting them onboard and their oversight in the certification process . Mr. Whitaker i think further integration in the certification process between groups, including technology, is a key reform and we will certainly implement that and look for ways to even go beyond that. Sen. Cantwell what else do we need to do here on capitol hill . You mentioned a bench. I would call it a resilient work force. How do we communicate to people what the work force needs of the f. A. A. Are so that we can build this . I think its one of your key priorities, you mentioned it in your statement. But we were like every other work force in the nation, we need the right people and we need them now. So what can we do to better enable this f. A. A. Work force . Mr. Whitaker i think assessing the work force will be one of the first goals that i have within the agency. And i would look forward to finding ways that we can increase ways to bring people into the agency. I think its a tight work force right now in aerospace and we recruit in the same places that private industry does. And weve got to figure out a way to be competitive to bring the right talent into the agency. Sen. Cantwell will you work with us on the ability of the f. A. A. To communicate these outcomes . I think we get in this role between the legislative branch and the agency and weve had to push for a lot of discussions so that people understand impacts. And so i hope you will commit to being a frequent communicator. I think my former colleague, senator wicker, had his levels of frustration many times before the committee in cooperation with the f. A. A. On information. And what we need is where the authorizers but were not the appropriators. What needs to be clear to the appropriators is what a shortfall in impact on the f. A. A. Will mean for us to do any aspect of the job at the f. A. A. So if youll commit to that. Mr. Whitaker i will. I think communicating better with stakeholders all the way around will be an important priority as well. Sen. Cantwell thank you. Senator cruz. Sen. Cruz thank you, madam chair. Mr. Whitaker, you and chair cantwell just a moment ago were talking about the need to recruit excellent talent at the f. A. A. Which is certainly a pressing need, i agree. The number of air Traffic Controllers was a significant concern during your tenure as deputy administrator at f. A. A. You repeatedly touted the f. A. A. S a plans f. A. A. s plans to hire controllers over the years. Years later, unfortunately, the shortage has only grown worse, leading to congestion and frequent delays. Especially in the new york air space. As you know, all newly hired air Traffic Controllers must complete a Training Program at the current f. A. A. Academy. But that academy is limited to only about 1800 individuals per year and it takes several years to fully train an air Traffic Controller. Realistically, considering that the attrition rate at the academy, and the Field Training process, we need to hire significantly more than 1800 each year for several years. If you are confirmed as f. A. A. Administrator, and you look at the issue of controller training and you find what has been consistently said to be the case, that a major choke point in the controller pipeline is the physical limits of the a. T. C. Academy, would you support a second a. T. C. Academy to increase throughput . Mr. Whitaker yes, senator cruz, i certainly would. And as we discussed, looking at those choke points and understanding where the problems lie will be an early priority and we just simply need to solve this problem, figure out how to get it done. Sen. Cruz i appreciate that commitment. Given that our system is facing a critical air Traffic Controller short and, i would hope one of the first things you would do would be to address this issue and if youre confirmed quickly by the senate, can you confirm to addressing it and trying to turn it around by the end of the year . Mr. Whitaker assuming i have enough time to do that, i will, sir. Sen. Cruz thank you. Let me turn to a different question. When you were deputy administrator of the f. A. A. , how many days a week did you go into the office . Mr. Whitaker every day, sir. Sen. Cruz every day. In late july, the f. A. A. Said that employees had to be in the office at least three days a week by october 9. Two weeks later, after the f. A. A. Hired a senior labor policy advisor for the first time, the agency put that inperson expectation on hold because of union pushback. Do you believe it is important that the f. A. A. Return to inperson work . Mr. Whitaker i do believe that its important to be in person for collaboration and working together and when i get into the agency, this has been a challenging issue for all organizations, private or public, and i think what needs to happen is after understanding the situation that were in and the limitations that might be there, issuing very clear guidance on what the expectations are to get people in the office. Sen. Cruz i will say theres a sharp differential between private and public. When i talk to businesses in the private sector, virtually all of them, the employees are going back to work. And theyre physically present and yet throughout the Biden Administration, we have a pattern at just about every agency where large portions of the work force have apparently decided to go into the office as optional. And i think that seriously limits the effectiveness of an agency and particularly an agency Whose Mission is protecting peoples lives in the air space. If confirmed, will you commit to working diligently to bring f. A. A. Employees back to the office . Mr. Whitaker i will, sir. Sen. Cruz when you were deputy administrator of f. A. A. , the certification of the boeing 737 max was under way. What was your involvement in the certification of the 737 max . Mr. Whitaker i stint have any involvement i didnt have any involvement in the certification of the max. I wish i had in retrospect. But the issues around the safety were unknown at that time, at least at the executive level. So they were not raised. Sen. Cruz so what went wrong with the certification of the max . Mr. Whitaker i think, of course this has been well stated by this committee and others, but i think i have to say it was a failure allaround. It was a failure at boeing, it was a failure at the system to catch information that was not disclosed by boeing. And i think the act has done a commendable job of plugging some of those holes but theres work to do and we need to make sure that never happens again. Sen. Cruz what caused the two air crashes with the air p 37 max . 737 max . Mr. Whitaker there were a number of issues. Pilot training or lack of Pilot Training, lack of awareness of the system was a major contributor. So there were a number of causes. Sen. Cruz let me ask you, what is your level of confidence that the f. A. A. Has changed how it approaches those issues so there wont be another disaster like we had with the 737 max . Mr. Whitaker i wont fully know the answer to that question until im there. I understand about 2 3 of the reforms have been implemented but it will be a top priority to make sure thats done and we go beyond that and bridge extra vigilance to the situation. Sen. Cruz thank you. Sen. Klobuchar thank you very much, madam chair. And mr. Whitaker, i enjoyed our discussion earlier and i also am excited about the experience you will bring to this job and hopefully you will get confirmed swiftly. Like everyone gets confirmed in the senate. But i think we all know that this couldnt be more important. Appreciated senator cruzs remarks about the need for the air Traffic Controllers, senator braun and i just introduced something on this. And i understand you want to see more a bigger aviation work force, a bunch of us are working on this with grants and things like that. Tell us what would be most helpful to get the aviation work force we need. Mr. Whitaker i think the grants are very helpful. I would view my role as administrator as chief recruitment officer, certainly for f. A. A. , but also for the industry. I think we need to really build interest and people becoming pilots or controllers or mechanics or flight attendants, its a great industry and we need to push the word out a little bit and really cast a broad net to build as broad a pipeline as we can to bring people into aviation. Sen. Klobuchar right. Senator cantwell had mentioned the need to focus on what we saw out of with the systemwide failure that morning that tbheeferl forget that well never forget. Senator moran and i were on the phone with the acting director that day. Could you talk about your commitment to carry out some upgrades to our air Mission System . Senator moran and i and capito passed a bill on this actually to include all the stakeholders stakeholders. Could you answer t . Mr. Whitaker sure. Im committed and ive been breeched on the matter from briefed on the matter from f. A. A. And i understand that work is under way. Sen. Klobuchar very good. When it comes to the essential air service, we talked about that. Do you degree that we need to ensure that air service reaches travelers outside of urban areas and continue that program . Mr. Whitaker i do. I think our network of airports in the u. S. Is a treasure and it needs to be we need to invest in it and keep them viable. Sen. Klobuchar right. Contract Tower Program provides critical air Traffic Control safety benefits to 256 smaller airports across the country, including in st. Cloud, minnesota, and a county airport. Do you support this program . Mr. Whitaker i do. Sen. Klobuchar ok, very good. Heres one that really interests me. Sustainable aviation fuel. A lot of our airlines and certainly farmers in minnesota and many are interested in this. In decarbonizing commercial flight is one of the greatest challenges facing modern aviation. You cant use a plugin plane. Could you talk about how Renewable Fuels are a key pathway, Renewable Fuels offer an opportunity to reduce emissions and also use homegrown fuel . Mr. Whitaker i think its part of the number of initiatives under way to decachinnize and i know the decarbonize and i know the Airline Industry is very supportive of that transition. There are other technologies out there, including electric aircraft, that help in that mission as well. Sen. Klobuchar secretary vilsack would be a good one to talk to about this. Because its been one of our big priorities when it comes to Renewable Fuels. Finally, the safe skies act, senator cantwell, with her great leadership in aviation, has been supportive of this. To take the rest requirements that are put in place for passenger pilots, apply them to cargo pilots that currently lose their rest requirements, but theyre also flying planes in the same air space. Could you talk about cargo pilots and the work that i think needs to be done from the safety standpoint . Mr. Whitaker im happy to look into that issue. Its not something im currently familiar with but ill look into that. Sen. Klobuchar very good. You can talk to solly sullenberg about that. Anyway. I hope you get confirmed swiftly. I think it would be a really a tribute to this committee and our leadership if were able to get this done strongly on a bipartisan basis. So i toss it back to the chairwoman here. Sen. Cantwell thank you. Sen. Thune thank you, madam chair, for holding this important hearing and i would just say to put it simply, the f. A. A. Has its work cut out for it on top of implementing the last f. A. A. Reauthorization and certification reform bill, the agencys contending with increasingly complex National Air Space system, which must accommodate the growth in commercial space activity and the drones and advanced air mobility aircraft. Managing all of those challenges while maintaining the highest level of safety in the worlds busiest Aviation System requires a skilled leader with ex tensive aviation extensive aviation experience so i look forward to todays discussion. Thank you for being here today and for being willing to take on this role. I have a whole bunch of questions on contract towers, air space, u. A. S. Integration and some other subjects that i will probably submit for the record but i want to talk about the Current Training for transport pilots, Airline Transport pilots, it requires the vast majority of flight hours be accumulated in the cockpit. I fully recognize the value of cockpit experience and see time and real aircraft as an essential part of training airport pilots. However im concerned that none of the flight hours are accumulated in the type of aircraft these pilots will be flying should they get a job with an airline. Instead theyre typically accumulated in small, singleengine aircraft. To address this issue, senator sinema and i have offered an amendment to the senate f. A. A. Reauthorization, codifying the recommendations of the air carrier training or a. R. C. To create a twomonday enhanced Qualification Program completed in exchange for a 250hour credit for the relevant experience. The use of similar training whose proven value has resulted in ex tensive use by the military and instruction from seasoned Airline Pilots would give trainees exposure to the cockpits and the jets that they would actually be flying and crucially allow them to experience what its like to handle challenging and dangerous situations in these cockpits. So theres a Bipartisan Group of former f. A. A. Administrators and president s who recently called on congress to expand the use of similar training, stating that, and i quote, requiring the repeated practice of the prevention of and recovery from myriad real world accident scenarios in full motion flight simulators will make better pilots, end quote. So mr. Whitaker, i frankly find it hard to believe that anyone would disagree with this statement from a respected group of aviation safety officials. Just like the adoption of adsb which you championed when you were last at f. A. A. , the agencys leadership in adopting new technologies is significantly has significantly benefited aviation safety time and time again, making the u. S. Aviation system the safest in the world. So having said all that, my question is, can you describe how if confirmed you would work to ensure the f. A. A. Takes the same leadership role in expanding the use of flight simulators to ensure that new pilots are wellrounded and best prepared to fly safely in Airline Operations . Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator, for the question. I think i guess there are a couple of pieces to this. I think the 1500hour rule has been of course its legislated so we follow the law and implement that rule, but since its been passed it is an important fabric of our safety network, if you will, and that has yielded good results in our operating system. The simulator issue is an interesting one. It involves a lot of different technologies and a lot of open questions and theres an arc thats been formed at f. A. A. To look at how that might be used and how we might look at pathways for reaching that 1500 hours. I know from my time at United Airlines, there are simulators and there are simulators. Some of the ones you mentioned, the full motion triple seven simulator that United Airlines would operate is an incredibly valuable tool for training Airline Pilots and running through scenarios and accidents and the like. But there are also multimilliondollar machines that wouldnt normally be available for a pilot trying to get 1500 hours. I know the technology has developed in simulators. We know that a desk top computer is not an adequate simulator for flight training. But understanding what the possible uses are i think is something that we should leave to the experts in the arc. Take their a. R. C. Take their recommendations and consider those. Sen. Thune i hope will you. Thats essentially what were operating under here. Very quickly, talking about u. A. S. , if confirmed, can describe how you will work to create a beyond visual line of sight framework, streamline the air worthiness approval process for u. A. S. . Mr. Whitaker i think the next step is getting a rule out. I dont have access to where that process stands right now. But it seems to me that the time has come to do that. And move as quickly as we can. Sen. Thune we have a bill that addresses this issue, which i hope you all will take a look at. But i just think this is something that stakeholders, everybodys been waiting for us to address and i hope that as you uptodate take this new responsibility, that will you work to implement a system thats not only safe, but is something that can accommodate the what were going to see in terms of increased use, i think, of those types of aircraft for lots of different applications. Mr. Whitaker i agree, sir, and i will. Sen. Thune thank you. Sen. Cantwell senator duckworth. Sen. Duckworth thank you, madam chair. Mr. Whitaker, thank you for being here today and for your willingness and your familys willingness to serve to make sure our Aviation System is safer. Especially at a time when were facing alarming safety crises. The f. A. A. Needs a leader who will be proactively strengthening the system and work with congress to secure transformational investments that will enable america to recruit and train the next generation of air Traffic Controllers and pilots and mechanics. Airlines broke the pilot pipeline when they decided that the best strategy to deal with the 1500hour rule that they claim is causing the Pilot Shortage, was to spend their hardearned cash on mass buyouts that resulted in tens of thousands of their most experienced pilots exiting the system at the work force. The mass exodus of pilot experience was compounded by a wave of retirement of air Traffic Controllers, many possessing decades worth of experience. And being from illinois, were very familiar with tornadoes. And just like warm air and cold air colliding together to create a tornado, plummeting aviation experience levels combine with a postpandemic surge in travel that created a perfect storm were witnessing now in all these near misses and safety incidents. The Aviation Systems margin of safety has been reduced and the results are down right terrifying. According to the new york times, in a 12month period, there were 300 accounts of near collisions involving carriers. Thats almost one near miss per day so far this year. Yet despite the alarming evidence that we must raise experience levels and bolster training across the aviation work force, some airlines are continuing their years Long Campaign to weaken or water down the postcovid era reforms. Mr. Whitaker, if confirmed, you will face heavy pressure from costcutting carriers looking to water down experience requirements. You will hear arguments that the 1500 hour rule is too rigorous because Foreign Countries require much less time. But i dont want our nations Aviation System to mimic foreign regulations. I want the United States to operate the safest air space in the world. And im sure you do as well. I want the f. A. A. To commit to doing everything in its power to ensure that the next set of safety reforms are not written in the blood of passengers killed in an aviation incident. Complainsy kills, that is why the next f. A. A. Administrator must proactively work to increase experience and training requirements before our luck runs out and this years near misses turn into next years deadly collisions. Mr. Whitaker, if confirmed will you protect the postcovid era Safety System by rejecting efforts to water down the 1500hour rule that requires a pilot bill at least 1500 flight hours to earn an a. T. P. Certificate . Mr. Whitaker yes, senator. Of course the the 1500hour rule is legislative and we will certainly work to maintain its integrity. Its been an important part of the Safety System and any changes i would recommend would go through an a. R. C. Process to make sure were not lowering the bar in any way. Sen. Duckworth thank you. Debates with the 1500hour rule often provoke intense disagreement. Yet carriers and Safety Advocates alike appear skeptical of the value of socalled diploma mill institutions which enable pilots to officially earn the 1500 hours of flying, circles in cloudless blue skies without a gust of wind. But you can do the same thing in a simulator where you are not practicing the exact maneuvers needed and you can be also flying 1500 hours in blue skies and god knows what type of simulator. So we would need to specify exactly what type of simulator using an, what type of usage, what type of procedures are being practiced. Mr. Whitaker, if confirmed, will you work to enhance safety by strengthening the 1500hour rule, specifically by refining what type of flight hours count toward meeting the rule, for example, requiring more than 50 hours be spent flying in the class of airplane for the rating that will be sought . Something the airlines have talked to me about which i have agreed with. Which is the type of experience that these regional carriers are asking for. Mr. Whitaker i think those are excellent points and i think they specifically apply to any use of simulators. So that were very clear on what constitutes a simulator, whats acceptable, and how do you log the time and what sort of maneuvers. You cant just go for a pleasure flight on your simulatorrer, it doesnt add much to the equation. Those are excellent points. Sen. Duckworth i think this is why a very vague proposed language such as scrubbingtured training structured training in a simulator causes me to be very skeptical. If you dont specifically say you need, you know, exact hours, flying an actual i. M. C. , if you dont have actual requirement to fly the exact type of aircraft, all of these lead to lack of pilot experience and i have to say, you know, in all the years i flew, the top types of simulates that are the army had, full motion, everything, not once did we ever practice the procedure that resulted in my surviving the r. P. G. That hit my aircraft. In fact, when i was told that had i experienced that, every time we were in the aircraft, and we simulated experiencing what we experienced, a total loss, you were told, youre just going to die, and then you pause the simulator. It was years of experience that caused us to be able to land that aircraft. Thats what i want from our air Traffic Controller system. I hope its the same for you. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. Thank you for your service. Sen. Duckworth thank you. I have one more question for the record. On the 737 max. But ill sun mitt that. Thank you ill submit that. Thank you, madam chair. Sen. Cantwell thank you. Senator moran. Sen. Moran thank you to you and senator cruz for rescheduling todays hearing. From tomorrow to today. It would be a terrible mistake if we lost another couple of weeks in our efforts to get a confirmed and capable director, administrator of the f. A. A. And im glad to see that you share that priority. I also want to associate myself with the remarks of senator cruz in a couple of particularly in a couple of instances in which he spoke about the importance of work force and returning to the office. That needs to be a federalwide circumstance but i hope you will fully take the lead that you described to senator cruz to see that that happens at the federal aviation administration. And also it baffles my mind that we desperately need air Traffic Controllers so critically and yet the gap that is created by a lack of education alpha silts and training educational facilities and training remains. So i appreciated your answer to both of senator cruzs questions. Let me ask a couple of questions. Youre nominated at a unique time in the history of the f. A. A. Air space is congested and new entrants are arriving daily. As the demand for aviation continues to grow, coupled with unprecedented challenges the industrys faced over the past few years, what lessons did you learn, what lessons did you learn as the deputy administrate that are prepare you to be the administrator in these days . Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator moran. I learned an infinite amount during those three years. It was really quite instructive, both on a technical side. I learned particularly to appreciate the 5,000 airports that we have in this country. Some of them dating back to world war ii and military uses. And i know from my experience with some startups that are looking at new technologies, these airports present a structure of infrastructure that is an opportunity, a business opportunity. I know data from vermont is already building charges stations and the like at small airports to create their own network of connectivity. So i think my experience particularly in the air space will help me chart a path forward for integrating a lot of these new technologies Going Forward. Sen. Moran your experience as chief operating officer, can you identify ways you will shepherd exciting technologies, a. A. Mrmt a. A. M. In particular, into our air space . Mr. Whitaker safety will always be the number one priority. But we cant use that as an excuse not to move more quickly. I think the dee is to have an integrated vision for how these various new entrants, whether its commercial space launch, supersonic travel, small drones, or vertical takeoffs that turn into horizontal flight can fit into our existing system. I think thats going to involve some technologies in the system that we havent had before. And its going to involve a road map on how to implement those technologies. Sen. Moran senator duckworth and i and others have been fully engaged in air mobility issues and it seems things move at a glacially slow pace. A difficulty we face certainly, no one could disagree with your comments about safety. It is the priority. But we operate in a world in which competitors cannot have the advantage of a regulatory system that moves much more rapidly than what ive seen in our circumstance. And its true beyond just these new advanced technologies. We need to be competitive in this world as we manufacture, develop, research and engineer new entrants into the realm. I would ask you a final question. Assure me that you will take charge and be a strong and determined leader in a circumstance in which theres lots of bureaucracy and backlog that makes that a challenge. Mr. Whitaker i can give you that assurance and i feel like my time at f. A. A. Gives me some real advantage. Im known in the agency and i know a lot of people there and i have a pretty clear vision for the mission and i know its a hard job and i know its an important job and i embrace that. Sen. Moran mr. Whitaker, you will have a tough job if confirmed ahead of you. Ive not said this publicly, you and i have met, you and i have had a telephone conversation and todays hearing. Everything i know about you suggests that you should be confirmed and my intention is to vote for your confirmation and encourage my colleagues to do so as well. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. Sen. Cantwell senator peters. Sen. Peters congratulations on your nomination and your willingness to take what is truly a challenging job. So we appreciate that. Mr. Whitaker thank you, sir. Sen. Peters as michigan senator, i have the privilege of representing nine rural airports that are served by essential air Service Program. That is the most of any state in the lower 48. And many of those airports are in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula and host only a couple of round trips per day. In fact, im going to take one of those aircraft on friday up to one of those Northern Michigan cities that is serviced through e. A. S. The proposed senate f. A. A. Reauthorization bill this year includes a provision that i championed that would hold airlines accountable when they break their contracts with these small communities who rely on them for service. Its essentially that they continue to get this service. Under the new rules it would be harder for airlines to terminate contracts early and the department of transportation would be empowered to penalize airlines that abandoned these e. A. S. Communities. I believe this is essential to preventing uncertainty and lapses in services in communities like hoaten, michigan, which experienced this issue last year. My question for you is, if confirmed, will you work with congress to protect the essential air Service Program and hold airlines accountable to the communities that they serve in rural areas, not just in my state, but all across the country . Mr. Whitaker yes, sir. I believe that the e. Ampt s. Program e. A. S. Program and our network of smaller airports is really key to our system. And i will work with you to support the appropriate safety mechanisms and infrastructure in those airports and work with d. O. T. On administering the e. A. S. Program. Sen. Peters grand rapids, michigan, is michigans second largest airport. It sees well over 200 Aircraft Operations each and every day and it serves a very rapidly growing part of our state as well. However, even as grand rapids serves record numbers of passengers, its been stymied in its efforts to expand and modernize because of a 60yearold f. A. A. Air Traffic Control tower that the agency has not acted to replace. And thats why last year i secured 5 million in congressionally directed spending for the airport to begin the design process, to replace the tower, but clearly the jobs not done yet. My question for you is, will you commit to working with me and the grand rapids airport to ensure that theres a plan to replace their tower in a timely fashion if confirmed . Mr. Whitaker yes, sir, i will. Sen. Peters thank you. I have also long advocated for the f. A. A. To transition away from the use of toxic pfascontaining firefighting foams. Last year President Biden signed into law my preventing pfas runoff at airports act, which will allow airports to purchase the equipment they need to test their firefighting response without discharging toxic pfas chemicals. This year the proposed f. A. A. Reauthorization bill includes provisions that i championed to ensure a quick transition to these new nonpfas firefighting foam, alongside Financial Resources for airports to make that transition. Michigan airports continue to lead the way on this issue, but they need a Strong Partner in the f. A. A. To fully transition away from the use of these chemicals to protect our communities, to protect their firefighters from contamination. So if confirmed, id like to certainly get your commitment to work with airports to end the use of pfas in aviation and your thoughts generally on this challenge. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. Im new to the issue but i understand the f. A. A. s been doing work in following the d. O. D. Guidance on transitioning from the foams and also looking for new forms of product to fight fires effectively. So we will continue to have that engagement with you. Senator peters 00 you said one of your senator peters you said one of the top three priorities is willed building the future. I agree it must be a robust workforce of air Traffic Controllers, pilots, aviation engineers, and other workers. I believe we cant meet this goal without doing more to recruit and retain women in these fields. Currently 5 of Airline Pilots are women. Even fewer serve in the other aviation fields. I have heard directly from michigander who served on the f. A. A. s women and aviation Advisory Board about the work the board did to direct the f. A. A. Industry and congressional action to support women in industry. Thats why i introduced the promoting women in aviation act. Im fighting to have it included in the f. A. A. Reauthorization package. Can you speak to the importance of build ago strong aviation Workforce Pipeline and finding ways to recruit and retain women in these critical positions . Mr. Whitaker i think casting is broad and making it as inclusive as possible is necessary. We need a lot of folks to have interest in aviation and all those jobs you mentioned. I do support that. Senator peters thank you, madam chair. Chair cantwell thank you. Senator blackburn thank you for the hearing today. Mr. Whitaker, thank you for being with us and the time to visit by phone. Madam chairman, i hope we request move soon to the f. A. A. Reauthorization act and get that finished. The house passed their mark on that bill back in july. And we need to take that up so we can all move forward. Mr. Whitaker, lets talk a little bit about drones, which we did as we visited last week. As we noted d. O. D. , interior, commerce, and treasury have all warned about the threats that our that are there as we look at chinese drones. Because of that i introduced the stop illicit drugs act. And it would prohibit the f. A. A. From operating or providing federal funds to certain foreign drone companies. This is all to protect us and our country. Id like to hear from you if you are confirmed what will you do to guard against this threat that we have from chinese drones. And how are you going to raise awareness on this issue. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator blackburn. Thanks for taking the time last week for us to meet. This is a very serious issue. I think national security, protecting our airspace, protecting our intellectual property as an economy are all very important issues. The f. A. A. s role here is to really work with various other agencies, Law Enforcement, agencies to make sure we have the add adequate protections in place. Regardless where they are manufactured to protect, particularly, from my perspective, the airspace. Senator blackburn chinese drones, specifically, would you agree with prohibiting federal funds for the purchase of these drones . Mr. Whitaker certainly defer to this body on the legislation that they put forward. Ill defer to the Law Enforcement agencies on how to best approach it. I clearlyclearly there are risks associated with drones in that category. Senator blackburn i want to talk to you about 5g. I have an amendment i filed to the reauthorization act to create an r d Grant Program to develop, test, and certify standards for ensuring the Telecom Industry and the f. A. A. Can meet installation requirements for nextgen radio. By 2024. Could you believe that this would help mitigate the f. A. A. Broadband carrier dispute over 5g in planes . Mr. Whitaker i think theres been tremendous progress in resolving this issue. I know that the industry has is equipped. I think the level is over 90 . To include mitigations for any interference from the 5g. I think ill continue to work with you on making sure that is completed. Senator blackburn that is great. That is something we need to see completed. The New York Post earlier this year had an article on the academic surrounding aviation issues and their credentials and privileges to smuggle drugs through airports and on to airplanes. And i, like many of my colleagues, have worked visiting different airports and looking at some of these issues. How do you plan to work with t. S. A. To counter these illegal operations that are being carried out on the tarmac at some of our nations airports . Mr. Whitaker we would certainly follow the lead of t. S. A. And any other Law Enforcement agencies involved in stopping those activities and contribute to that stopping them as much as we could. Senator blackburn well, build on that a little bit. How would you work with other entities that are there in the aviation ecosystem to ensure that these guys are not going to be on the tarmac, and are not going to be able to carry this out. Mr. Whitaker our security folks at f. A. A. Have well established networks of cooperation with the various agencies. We contract that down to that network and find out how we can contribute to fighting this. Senator blackburn i have one other question ill submit to you but it has to do with some of the bilateral aviation safety agreements that we have in place. We have had some issues with the lack of leadership within the f. A. A. As we look at these not honoring either the letter or spirit of the law. Ill send that to you for a written response. Thank you. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. Chair cantwell thank you, senator blackburn. I want to say we really do believe that fentanyl transported at airports is an issue. We will work with senator blackburn and you on that. Senator tester. Senator tester thank you, madam chair. I want to thank you for being here today, mr. Whitaker, and your willingness to serve the country. The f. A. A. Administrator is a very, very important position. Particularly if you are sitting on this side of the rostrum because we fly a lot. The job you do impacts us daily. It impacts the American People daily. Its important. Workforce is a major problem throughout this country. I dont care what industry. The same is true the folks who do a marvelous job. My question to you is do you have any plans on how we can address that Workforce Shortage . Quite frankly truly is a life and death situation if you have folks who are working too many hours. And they are in a difficult situation. They do a great job. They work hard. There just aint enough of them. How can we fix it . Mr. Whitaker are you referring to the towers . Senator tester yes. Mr. Whitaker it is an area we need to focus on and fix. Its gun going on for too long. It was exacerbated by covid. Not understanding the direction that air traffic was going to go during that time period. We have to have as wide a pipeline as we can to bring controllers into the space. Air Traffic Controller is a very good job. Im sure there are a lot of people that would like to do it. Same with a lot of aviation jobs. Its time we aggressively go after that. Part of my role will be chief recruiting officer for the agency and making the agency an employer of choice for people who are having abaviation having an aviation career. Senator tester i think it will take creative thinking. Youre right, there are a lot of people who want to be in the business but we dont have enough people. Whatever you can do in that vain to get more folks available makes the sky a safer place. Thank you. I want to talk about pilots. I come from a state where these are destinations, they are not hubs. All the airports there. We have fewer flight options. In fact, its fair to say at least in my case that this is a different world. This flying world is a different world post pandemic than prepandemic. Its not better, its worse. Part of it is not enough pilots. I thought i had a beautiful solution after being in an American Airline simulator. I thought we can do this with simulators for a portion of it. Until the lady to my right pointed out to me that all simulators arent alike. Being a pilot, she knew that. I went, oh, man. There goes that brilliant idea i had. How can we fix this . How can we utilize ways to get more pilots into the pipeline. We are paying them tkraoepb monty. More pilots in the pipeline. Keep airplanes saved. Still have pilots behind the stick that know what they are doing. So can i get more flights into a place like great falls, montana, that by the way oftentimes if i miss a night flight, the next flight in is the next night. Give me some hope. Mr. Whitaker thank you for the question. I think the pie will the pilot situation was long in the making. For many years was a pretty rocky profession. Its very expensive to become a pilot, like it is to become a doctor or lawyer. It assumes a lot of debt often. Then the starting salaries were very, very low. A regional pilot 15 years ago might have made 20,000 a year. While a lawyer in a law firm might have made 100. There is a big disparate. The salaries have gone up a bit. Both at the entry level and airline level. I think the markets working and it will work and help correct that. What we can do is look at other ways to facilitate people coming into the industry. I think your point on simulators is a good one. Its a complicated issue. There are simulators and there are simulators. How you spend your time is important, which is why we have an art at f. A. A. Looking at this, Safety Professionals looking at t are there incentive avenues to create. Senator tester youve got a Rulemaking Committee thats going to make recommendations to you and potentially the congress, correct . Mr. Whitaker they make the recommendations to the f. A. A. Well certainly work with congress on those. Senator tester can you push that committee to do their Due Diligence to get a rule out sooner rather than later . Mr. Whitaker i will do all i can. Chair cantwell senator fischer. Senator fischer thank you, madam chairman. Welcome, mr. Whitaker. I have heard from stakeholders that they are facing substantial delays in the certification and operational approval that could improve aviation safety. To address this i worked on bipartisan language in the f. A. A. Reauthorization bill creating a new associate administrator for advanced Aviation Technology and innovation. This f. A. A. Leadership level position would be charged with improving how the agency works across lines of business to certify advanced technologies more rapidly and break down barriers delaying the adoption of aviation technologies. Drawing from your prior industry experience, do you believe that the f. A. A. Places enough emphasis on the certification of advanced technologies . Would this new position improve how the agency respond to the pace of innovation . Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. I think thats a very astute question. Certainly to the point. I think these new technologies coming into the agency are one of the Biggest Challenges we are facing. We dont necessarily understand everything about them. Especially when there is Extensive Software involved in interactions between new technologies. So we need to have resources put in making sure there is a ho listic understanding how these systems interact and where the risks and faults are. Thats a step in the right direction. Senator fischer the Nebraska Division of aeronautics serves as the agent for airport sponsors seeking federal grants. Its been noted that the interpretation of eligibility and requirement for projects are not uniformly enforced from region to region, state to state. And even between different f. A. A. Planners and engineers within a state. What can be done to straighten this out . How can you as f. A. A. Administrator at that level ensure that requirements are interpreted and administered uniformly across this country . Mr. Whitaker i think its important that we have a transparent and uniform system to allocate funding across the system. So it is applied fairly. I would certainly provide direction to make sure that happens. Then from that baseline there are always exceptions for unique circumstances. We have to have the flexibility to adapt to that as well. It needs to be a completely fair and transparent system. Senator fischer when we have some of these cases brought to our attention, if we are able to present that information to you, will you take a personal interest in trying to figure out just why maybe some of these discrepancies are happening . Mr. Whitaker i would be happy to work with you on that. Senator fischer thank you. One of f. A. A. s most successful government industry partnerships is the f. A. A. Contract Tower Program. That includes one we have in grand island, nebraska. This critical air Traffic Safety program is important to maintain and develop air service in rural states like mine. There have been attempts in the past to shut down the contract Tower Program over budget concerns. Can you give me assurances that you will support the contract Tower Program given its really vital importance to the National Airspace system and that contract towers will remain a high priority for the f. A. A. If you are confirmed as administrator . Mr. Whitaker i can give you that assurance. I think contract towers are an important part of our network of smaller airports. We need to maintain those and make sure they are viable. Senator fischer thank you, madam sinema thank you, chair cantwell. Chair cantwell thank you. Mr. Whitaker, good to see you. Enjoyed our meeting last week. From that phaoegt i understand are you a private pilot. Does your experience as a private pilot in general aviation does that enhance your experience back when you served as deputy administrator . Mr. Whitaker it did, senator. Thank you for taking the time last week. It was an extremely valuable thing t helped me understand the system. And appreciate whats at stake when you are up there in that tin can. Back in 2017 pilots of smaller aircraft used an alternate medication Certification Program known as basic phed. More than 70,000 pilots have used basic phed to maintain their flying privileges. In march f. A. A. Reported to congress that pilots flying under basic med are just as safe as pilots with a third class medical. What are your thoughts on the program . Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. I completed my basic med a few weeks ago. I had gone through a regular medical examiner previously for the twoyear check. And this timedy the basic med because hi a physical scheduled. Tried it. Took the form to the doctor. Took the online course which i thought was useful. I thought it was a very deliver efficiency that in my view yielded more information and more useful. Senator budd you may remember this from your previous tenure at f. A. A. If it were up to the f. A. A. Basic med would never have happened. Despite several requests for third class medical reform. Over more than 20 years, two decades, f. A. A. Did not act until Congress Mandated those reforms. I bring this example up because many enabling regulations come from congress and f. A. A. Reauthorization bills, and they have a deadline attached to them. Yet f. A. A. Routinely misses congressionally mandated deadlines for these new rules. My office found that the f. A. A. Missed congressional rulemaking deadlines in the last three f. A. A. Reauthorization bills by an average of 543 days. Even more concerning there are still 14 mandatory rulemaking stretching back over a decade to the 2012 reauthorization that f. A. A. Has not yet completed to this day. F. A. A. Also missed reporting deadlines by an average of 554 days. Depriving congress of crucial information needed to legislate and conduct oversight. Reports during your tenure as deputy administrator were 678 days late on average. If confirmed, what will you do to ensure the f. A. A. Is meeting the deadlines that congress places into law. Mr. Whitaker thank you for the question, senator. I will do everything i can to make sure we are on schedule. I think rulemaking is a very frustrating thing from every perspective. Its highly regulated under the administrator procedures act. It takes a long time. Its a frustration as we try to bring new entrants into the airspace and have to go through that onerous process, i will do everything within my power and within the confines of that to move as quickly and communicate with a this committee on the status of those. Senator budd i share your concern about maintaining f. A. A. s Global Leadership in safety and regulation. That position greatly benefits our domestic Aviation Industry and allows companies to pioneer the next generation of Aviation Technology. Aim proud that North Carolinas home to many of these companies. But in order to innovate, Industry Needs to note rules of the road, or the rules of the air. That goes back to the speed of new regulation. What can we do to help f. A. A. Speed up those enabling regulation that is are necessary for these new industries to grow . Mr. Whitaker i wish i had a good answer for that. Most of the review periods and Public Comment periods are set by statute. I think we can i think we have power within the f. A. A. And d. O. T. And o. M. B. To move that as fast as we k i would work those levers. Senator budd the question about you and us as congress is your desire for to us work together. If successful we can continue to work together. Ever since the Wright Brothers first flew at kitty hawk, North Carolina n. American as within the North Carolina, america last been the world leader in the Aviation Industry. We set the standards. Im glad to see the Biden Administration put forward a qualified nominee to fill a vacancy that has lasted over 550 days. Mr. Whitaker, if you are confirmed, i look forward with working with you to implement the upcoming f. A. A. Reauthorization and address the many challenges facing the Aviation Industry today. Thank you. I yield back. Chair cantwell senator welch. Senator welch thank you. I have been to hearings that have been a little rougher on the person in your chair than this one. I think its a testament your qualifications. Im delighted at the reception you are getting. It reflects your experience. Just a couple things. Senator budd was asking about your pilots license. That was a concern the committee had with some of the prior nominees that they werent a pilot. I think you answered that pretty well. Im interested in your decision to become a pilot was when you were at the f. A. A. Why did you make that decision . Quickly. You addressed this. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. It really derives from my role as technology officer. All that technology around how the controllers interact with the pilot in that situation. I wanted to understand it from that perspective. It helped to understand somewhat abstract principles around navigation that you go through. That was the driving force. Senator welch the number of people brought up the delay issue, how long it takes. Aim with them on that im with them on that. Its a dilemma i imagine if you are the head of the agency, where you absolutely cant compromise safety. Its what senator duckworth has been a leader on this committee and focusing on. There can be times where that becomes mr. Whitaker i agree. Senator welch and act and make a decision. Not cut corners. But try to expedite it. Can you talk about the role will you play in maintaining that standard but not using not allowing the agency to hide behind that standard rather than do their job in efficient and prompt way. Mr. Whitaker excellent point. I agree. I think we cant allow safety to become an excuse for inaction. I think that does happen. I think Decision Making in a Large Organization is an interesting thing. You need to have accountability. If you dont have clear leadership and visibility to where things are stuck, they often dont get made. Senator welch senator cruz is concerned about folks being back in the office. I know thats an issue that is throughout america. Not just public agencies. But private. Can you speak to that . I think senator cruz got a legitimate point there. Mr. Whitaker i agree. A lot of our workforce is back. Air Traffic Controllers and safety inspectors and the like. To build a Cohesive Leadership Team and move forward we need to have inperson encounters. That will be establishing a clear policy and enforcing it will be an early action. Senator welch the last area i want to ask is about advanced air mobility industry. Since you im sure know in vermont we have a new very exciting company, data technologies, that just yesterday opened up its Production Facility will be the largest one east of the mississippi. Our governor was there, former senator leahy was there. The entire congressional delegation. That goes into the thats electric planes. Its going to require regulations. Can you tell me two things. One, your thoughts about a. A. M. And number two. The role that the f. A. A. Has to play in facilitating that while maintaining what ill call the duckworth standard of safety. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. I think with a. A. M. There is an opportunity for certification under existing rules. I believe that data is moving under those rules. I think that Technology Evolves and matures, we probably need a more aggressive set of rules to allow tighter operations and more application of technology for efficiency. Senator welch thank you very much. Good luck to you. Welcome. I yield back. Chair cantwell senator capito. Senator capito thank you for sreus thing visiting my office. I want to follow up what my colleague from vermont was talking about. My local airport, jaeger airport, has been to vermont to look at this. While not using the same term he used, they use an electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. I am assuming we are talking about the same, similar thing. This would be next again rakes technology. I think it holds a lot of promise for rural areas to be the centers of excellence and also the innovators here in terms of where we take this electrification on these types of vehicles. What kind of ideas would you have in terms of where the f. A. A. Might be able to be helpful in terms of building out infrastructure that would be needed like electric cars would be different. How do you envision Something Like that. Mr. Whitaker thank you for the question. In the case of beta its an interesting case. I think they started as an e. V. Company and now its a fixed wing departure. They are more a traditional aircraft design. They are dealing with the infrastructure issue by installing their own at airports. I think for the f. A. A. We are following this. The path that is being set by the company. As these Companies Need infrastructure for electric power and things, we need to be able to respond to that. But i do think it offers tremendous opportunity for smaller communities. The cost of the simplicity of operation means the cost is much lower. The maintenance is lower on these types of vehicles. It lowers your unit cost and opens up more market. I think it is a potential opportunity for smaller communities. Senator capito i do, too. Its less cluttered airspace to be able to handle the innovation. In 2020, it seems like this is another neverending story, the fcc and f. A. A. And d. O. D. Have gotten into a fiasco over the 5g spectrum. This has created significant issues in this committee and elsewhere. Im wondering would you commit to being a strong advocate to try to seek to avoid these similar issues . Sit down at the table and work these things out so we dont lay it at the table at the last minute to decide what direction to go. Mr. Whitaker i would commit to that. I think collaboration is a good way to avoid a lot of misunderstanding and to reach a line up front on difficult issues. Senator capito let me go back to Rural Air Service. I can speak from experience that its contracting, not expanding in terms of availabilities. There have been some Different Companies that have come into play to do niche things which is great. Do you see the loss of Rural Air Service as an urgent problem . How could you work to address that . Mr. Whitaker i think it is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. I think the pilot demand has been such that it has left smaller communities behind in some cases. I think we want to try to encourage as many people into this profession as we can. I think the rising salaries will help draw people into this profession. But we want to make sure we are supporting that effort as well by keeping the airports up to Safety Standards and improving them as appropriate so you can atracked traffic. Senator capito on the Pilot Shortage issue, we just had women in aviation expo to try to encourage and have a broader reach to recruit more women, but also different types of populations into become ago pilot. We have several pilot schools that have grown in the last several years. Im very encouraged by that. Let me ask you in your Prior Experience at f. A. A. How many visits to the tower, and how important is that for you to have those on site visits . And how does that inform your work Going Forward . Mr. Whitaker i was a frequent visitor to our facilities around the country, including towers. Both in large, urban areas, but also remote areas. Including contract towers. I think its key to hear the voices on the ground. Usually there are opinions about what technology they should have and dont have. Its a good way to understand the ground level how the system is operating. Senator capito come interesting a mountainous rural area coming from a mountainous rural area having eyes on a runway is significant in a place where i live. That fog can come in quick like we did last week and had to go back around and try again. I would just urge that. Its amazing how much better the weather predicting has gotten over the years. As we move forward i think those rural airports need to have that basic attention paid to them. Thank you. Chair cantwell senator markey. Senator markey thank u. Madam chair. Mr. Whitaker, i would like to discuss the resiliency of our Aviation System from melting runways in london. Last year. To rising sea levels threatening coastal airports. To increased turbulence. Climate change is significantly impacting our Aviation System. Mr. Whitaker, do you agree Climate Change poses new challenges for airlines, airports, and the f. A. A. . Mr. Whitaker i do. I think we saw that last week with new york and la guardia. Runways being flooded. Each airport has its own issues. Sometimes its a question of improving drainage. I think we need to look at that. Senator markey do you agree all parties in the Aviation System need to invest in more resiliencies. La guardia is a good example. Mr. Whitaker i think the airlines are investing in sustainable fuel. Senator markey thats why i fought hard for two of my bills to address this issue. The first is the Airport Infrastructure resiliency act which senator sullivan and i filed as an amendment to the f. A. A. Reauthorization bill which would create a new Grant Program to improve airport resiliency. Senators fisher, welch, capito, and i have also introduced the Airline Operational resiliency act, which requires the Government Accountability office to investigate airlines plans for extreme weather events. We need to harden our Aviation System against extreme weather events and natural disasters. There is no time to lose. I want to turn to another issue related to airport resiliency. Airport service workers. These individuals are the Unsung Heroes of our Aviation System. But they are often overworked and underpaid. Our airports would not function if these essential workers like baggage handlers, and others did not do their jobs. Mr. Whitaker do you ooh tkpwraoe Airport Service workers are critical to our system . Mr. Whitaker i certainly agree. Senator markey i agree. Thats why with senator schumer, i have been fighting to include my good jobs for good airports act in the f. A. A. Reauthorization bill. The bill would help to ensure that Airport Service workers are paid a living wage and benefits. Its time that we pay the benefits that these workers deserve. We can see during the pandemic where they had to go to work. They had to take the risks, which others did not have to take. It is absolutely imperative that we have a fairer distribution of the incredible benefits that are flowing to airports increasingly in terms of how it is shared. That is not happening. Senator schumer and chair cantwell and i are committed to continuing to work in order to ensure we can include that in the f. A. A. Reauthorization. I would like to finally turn to aviation safety. Over the past year we have seen a scary number of near misses between aircraft. In one instance two planes actually struck each other at bostons Logan Airport in my home state. Fortunately they were barely moving when their wings clipped each other. No one was injured. But it was yet another reminder about the risk of air travel. I know other members have asked you about it. But i would like you once again just to expand on the prioritization of safety that you will bring to the f. A. A. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. Clearly safety is the number one priority. These near misses, they come in a number of categories. I think what we need to do is drive the most serious ones down to the level of stkaoer roefplt thats not been the case before. That needs to be our target. Senator markey when i was a boy, my aunt mary would go to Logan Airport. My brothers and i would be taken by her over to a machine where she would buy an insurance policy on her life. Out of Logan Airport. And hand us the insurance policy on her life. As we were kissing her goodbye, left us with mixed emotions. What is about to happen to our aunt mary . We have come a long way from that. Still there are families that justifiably are concerned given the incidents in airport after airports. Thank you. Chair cantwell thank you. Seeing none of my colleagues on the other side are on the screen, well go back on this side. Thank you, madam chair. Mr. Whitaker, thank you so much for your willingness to return to Public Service at this critical moment for the f. A. A. I wanted to ask you about the agencys ongoing efforts to support airports in their transation away from firefighting foams that contain pfas. I will say that transition away from firefighting foams that contain pfas. I will say that so many communities in wisconsin where public wealth, municipal wealth near airports has led to pfas contamination in the drinking water. Has cost millions of dollars in both sthorpl and longterm remediation efforts. Senator baldwin in early may i sent a bipartisan letter with several of my colleagues on the committee to the f. A. A. Asking that the agency complete its transition plan by early may. Im encouraged to note that that transition plan was completed. And the very first pfasfree foam was approved by the f. A. A. Last month. However, many airports throughout wisconsin continue to have questions about transition and are anxious for Additional Guidance and clarity from the agency. We fielded a number of questions and forwarded them to the agency. So will you commit to ensuring that this transition is a top priority for the agency, and the f. A. A. Is responsive to airports that have any questions need guidance. Mr. Whitaker yes, senator. I will. This is a new issue for me. I have come to learn about it in recent weeks. I understand the f. A. A. s worked closely with d. O. D. To have an appropriate transition. Well make sure that continues. Senator balled baldwin senator baldwin i worked with senator sullivan introducing Bipartisan Legislation called the flight Education Access act. This would ensure pilot pilot profession is accessible to more people by raising the amount of federal Student Loans available. Its a more costly educational program. This was one of the top recommendations of the women in aviation Advisory Boards final report. Im encouraged by the strong support we have received for the legislation, including from a wide ranging groups of airlines and pilot unions. Given your leadership in aviation, including at the f. A. A. , and at a major airline, do you believe that additional financial tools like Student Loans may help more people enter the aviation workforce . Mr. Whitaker i do. I think that as many initiatives as we can muster to make it easier to enter the profession very expensive to become a pie hrofplt its an investment akin to becoming a lawyer or doctor financially. I think if we want more pilots, we need to make that pathway more affordable. Senator baldwin one final question. I have been working closely with aviation subcommittee chair duckworth for years on access to air travel for individuals with disabilities. In the last f. A. A. Reauthorization bill we made progress object the on the issue and we are hopeful that the reauthorization bill we are working on now will continue to make meaningful change in this arena. Im interested in your thoughts about how f. A. A. Can continue to break down barriers for individuals with disabilities. And if confirmed, will you commit to making this a top priority . Mr. Whitaker will i make it a top priority. I think by all means there is ever reason to make sure we move as aggressively as possible in that space. Chair cantwell senator lujan. Senator lujan madam chair, thank you. I believe senator heugen looper will be next heugen looper will be next. Chair cantwell im more than happy to call on senator licken looper hickenlooper. Senator hickenlooper i have to go to preside. We dont want the wheels of democracy grind to a halt. Mr. Whitaker, thank you for your visit last week. Thank you for your willingness to soeufplt communities in and around centennial, colorado, across our state have consist ten deal with excessive noise. Lowflying aircraft getting worse and worse. We are working to ensure longterm authorization bill for the f. A. A. Gives communities a seat at the table to resolve noise related concerns and have their concerns heard. If you are confirmed will you work with us to ensure communities are properly heard and responded to when dealing with concerns of aircraft noise . Mr. Whitaker i certainly would. Engagement with the community in the circumstances is crucial and can result in understandings about operational limitations that can alleviate some of that noise. Senator hickenlooper a big deal in colorado is regional air service. A lifeline in many cases to Rural Communities around our state and country. A big part of their economic development. In colorado some of our Rural Communities, grand junction, cortez suffered dramatic reduction in air service over the last two years. We also need to strengthen the essential air service, e. A. S. Program. To ensure airlines honor the contracts that they sign for these rural areas. If you are confirmed, what improvements would you make to the e. A. S. Program to improve what improvements would you make to improve longterm reliability . Mr. Whitaker for the f. A. A. , the role we can play is make sure the airports have the proper infrastructure, proper safety technology. The e. A. S. Program itself is administered out of the d. O. T. We can support d. O. T. On that by having adequate airports. I think also encouraging new technology that might be available for those. New technology, new forms of flight electric flights that i think are an option for some of those locations. So we can help facilitate their entry into service. Senator hickenlooper last question. Fighting Climate Change has become one of the greatest challenges we face. Aviation fuels more efishen the efficient technologies will reduce pollution coming out of the aviation sector. We have heard a lot of coloradoans come to our office talking about the impact of leaded Aviation Fuels on their health and air quality. We need to ensure new types of Aviation Fuels and technology are widely available and affordable. Especially for regional airports. Before they make the consumption requirements. My perspective. If confirmed, how would you strike a balance between incentivizing and recognizing how important it is to use more efficient aviation rules and fuels and technologies. And they are available. Mr. Whitaker i know this is an issue that the f. A. A. And industry have worked on for many years. And there is a plan to make shoo transition by 2030. I think we need to continue to engage with airports to make sure we make that transition. Also dont interrupt flight training, for example. I think its going to involve a lot of collaboration to deliver that. Senator hickenlooper this is what i wanted to hear. I yield back. Chair cantwell senator lujan. Senator lujan thank you, chair cantwell. Mr. Whitaker, thank you for being here today. And for accepting the responsibility as representative laid out with coming forward to serve. Senator welch also said something along those lines. Thank you for accepting that responsibility. As you know, im from new mexico. New mexico is known for many, many beautiful landscapes, mountains, weather, our sunrises. Incredible airspace which we protect. But in the next few weeks we are going to be celebrating the International Balloon fiesta. The largest hot air balloon gathering in the world. There comes responsibility to the f. A. A. Pursuant to the International Balloon fiesta. I have been proud to work with many of the balloonist community in this particular spwaeus. Mr. Whitaker space. Mr. Whitaker, to ensure the f. A. A. Would not bar albuquerque balloon operating from flying into cities. However as new technologies emerge, i know that these issues will continue to come up as the f. A. A. Works to keep our airspace safe. My question to you is if confirmed, do you pledge to keep in mind the unique needs and limitations facing hot air balloon operators as you roll out regulation related to new technologies and airspace access . Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. I think its an interesting question. We talked a lot about new entrants in the airspace. Thats a very old one. They want to keep principles for the new entrants that existing service can operate efficiently and unimpeded by the new entrants. I would categorize balloons as part of that. Yes, i give you that commitment senator lujan if there is one thing we agree on is the f. A. A. Need strong leadership. After one minuter travel season with delays, technological digs rupsings. Its time we confirm an administrator to get the Aviation System on track. One part that needs attention is air Traffic Control. Right now there are shortages and staffing across the country. Forcing our controllers to work intense schedules with long and longer hours. When we do not take good care of oiler air Traffic Controllers, it puts the efishen and efficiency and safety at risk. There are actions we can take together to improve our air Traffic Control systems. Yes or no, do you support efforts to ensure the f. A. A. Is hiring and training as many controllers as are needed each year to address existing shortages . Mr. Whitaker yes. That will be a top priority. Senator lujan do you support efforts to fix the way we calculate the number of air Traffic Controllers that our Aviation System needs . This would mean counting those currently in training separately from fully trained controllers. Mr. Whitaker i can commit to look into that issue. Thats not an issue im familiar with. I will look into it. Senator lieu happen i appreciate mr. Lujan if wesenator lujan it concerns me we will not fix the problem. Ill follow up with you in writing to make sure we continue to work closely in this space and fully express why its important. Mr. Whitaker, the Albuquerque AirTraffic ControlCenter Staffing numbers have consistently been below targets for years. What can we do to address staffing challenges, especially at centers struggling the most . Mr. Whitaker i think that is a common issue. An out gentlewoman of the shortage we have. Its to focus on expanding that pipeline and getting as many potential controllers into the system and training them as we can. Senator lujan Diversity Matters to me. As we work for a strong workforce. Thats a space i look forward to working with you on and working with colleagues to raise issues across the country. But to ensure we have the strongest teams available, possible, training, ready to go. And especially with retirement eligibility that we pay close attention to many of these factors that need desperate attention. Just to keep it safe. I appreciate that very much. I yield back. Chair cantwell senator schmidt. Senator schmidt thank you, madam chair. I heard t. W. A. Is like a long lost ghost. I grew up by the airport in st. Louis. Mr. Whitaker i spent a long time in that airport. Senator schmidt since joe biden took office. We have Pilot Shortages, widespread tkhraeul delays. The First Nationwide ground stop. Near misses at major airports across the country. This administration, Biden Administration, has taken the eye off the ball and its been a mess. Instead of focusing on thoughtful deregulation and incentivizing policies to promote technological innovation. They have been focused on changes such as changing the name of systems from notices to air men to notices to air mission. Spending millions on Climate Change, racial equity, and environmental justice. Like many in the room, many of my constituents, i travel on a weekly basis. I request tell you the last thing i can i tell you the last thing i care about 30,000 feet in the air is all they want is to get home as quick as possible to get back to families. Put their kids to bed. Unfortunately, i have heard more about d. E. I. And radical climate agenda from this administration when it comes to their priority lace of the f. A. A. Than safety. Mr. Whitaker, that said, i will say that its refreshing to not see a single mention of the word diversity, equity, and inclusion or Climate Change in your testimony. Thats at least progress over the last nominee for the f. A. A. We had just a few months ago. I want to read for you the f. A. A. s Mission Statement provided on the website. Our continuing mission is to provide the safest, most efficient Aerospace System in the world. Mr. Whitaker, do you agree that the f. A. A. s primary mission should be to provide for the safety and efficiency of americas National Airspace . Mr. Whitaker i do agree that is a mission of the f. A. A. Senator schmidt we have heard from the administration from the d. E. I. , one of the worst actors would be your boss, secretary buttigieg. At the end of august he announced 24 members to his Advisory Committee on transportation equity. To help implement, quote, an equity action plan, across the department of transportation, including the f. A. A. Mr. Whitaker, if confirmed as f. A. A. Administrator, will you prioritize promoting practices to institutionalize equity over safety over americas flying public . Mr. Whitaker if im confirmed as administrator my number one priority will be safety, always. Senator schmidt lastly, your experience speaks for itself. Im not here to question your expertise. This administration has clearly lost sight of what matters when it come to the aviation sector. If your nomination is successful i hope you will hold true to your commitments today. And we need a sense of urgency in promoting that innovation, safety in addressing Workforce Shortages as opposed to this radical agenda this administration has put forth and has nothing to do with any of those things. I look forward to continuing those conversations. Chair cantwell senator rosen. Senator rosen i appreciate you holding a nomination hearing today. Mr. Whitaker, thank you again. Like everyone has stated, your willingness to serve. I look forward to todays discussion. Im going to talk about something thats impacting us in nevada, which is airport obstruction. We need analysis on that. The safety of passengers and crew is the most important part of airport operations. Of course if you have never been to las vegas, Harry Reid International airport is at one end of the Las Vegas Strip. So many hotels right next door. Last year, in 202 2rbgs we saw record 52 million visitors through there. Our airport like others across the country has been left unable to raise critical safety and security concerns about nearby obstructions to the f. A. A. s current obstruction evaluation airport airspace analysis process. We must ensure this process is robust. It involves all stakeholder input. And in particular takes into account the safety and security and concerns of the airport seriously. Mr. Whitaker, i know when we met ahead of this hearing i spoke with you about the need to consider more of a cumulative impact during the oeaa process f confirmed how will you ensure this process is sufficient to account for Major Concerns as our Las Vegas Strip is right there at the end of the runway. All the Ground Safety that is safety concerns in general raised by the t. S. A. Mr. Whitaker thank you, senator. Im glad we had a chance to talk about this issue a couple weeks ago. I think that the processes that the f. A. A. Runs are designed to be standard across the board. But we do run into circumstances where we need to consider special geographies or special characteristics. Our focus is on safety and security. Somewhat different bucket. A valid issue you are raising and given the proximity to the high rises in that area, think we can look at that analysis. Senator rosen i appreciate that. On that note we have a large stadium right there on the Las Vegas Strip. Going to be home to the next super bowl. We are very proud of that. Of course there are stadiums across the country. Since september 11 terrorist attacks, congress and the executive branch have recognized the need to protect stadiums and large sporting events. We have f1 race coming up around thanksgiving. Like i said, home to las vegas raiders. We have the super bowl. Nfl draft. We are really emerging as the Sports Capital in the nation. So this makes las vegas a very rich target environment for bad actors. The f. A. A. Initially imposed temporary flight restrictions over stadium events, including for drones. And congress subsequently strengthened and however sports lyings have reportedry strickses in flight. Restrictions. Would you that protect the stayed yules and the federal government is nimble as we face these evolving threats, like drones . Mr. Whitaker we will work with the appropriate Law Enforcement agencies to cooperate in that endeavor. Mr. Rose we are no stranger to cyberattacks and the system outage in january made clear to all americans how dependent the Worlds Largest economy is on air travel, how dependent we are and how old our computer systems. While the incident spanning january 10 and 11 was not the result of a cyberattack, it revealed the vulnerabilities security, its architecture does raise cybersecurity concerns that we must be proactive about. Can you talk about the Cyber Capabilities and how you would prevent an attack. Mr. Whitaker my knowledge on the cybersecurity is about seven years out of date. If confirmed, i will be able to evaluate more closely. But it is a cross agency approach to identifying those threats. Mr. Whitaker, congratulations on your nomination. I appreciate our discussion last week on a lot of National Issues and i want to dig into the last issue we talked about. As we have discussed my area is not connected by roads. One size approach doesnt work in alaska. There are a lot of issues and trying to get the f. A. A. Not to cut corners but increase safety. But i want to review a few of these, weather observation and sphrawrk, the f. A. A. Will say its expensive. Give us roads to our communities. Sometimes we are an after thought and more people die and more crashes in my state than any other state by far. You and i talked about that. I want to submit for the record madam chair, the february, 2020ntsb report that looked at accident rates in alaska that was 2. 4 times higher than the rest of the country and the fatal accident rate is 1. 4 times higher than the rest of the country. Im sure you would agree that is not acceptable . Mr. Whitaker i appreciate the conversation we were able to have and i visited the aviation facilities in alaska and i recognize the importance of having a system in place to mitigate those risks. Senator sullivan the first one is really easy was an attempt to address the highest crash and death rates in the country. Will you commit to me and this committee to keep the f. A. A. s leadership on that. There has been a lot of good work but more needs to be happening to keep the initiative going . Mr. Whitaker i will. Senator sullivan the issue of reliability of weather equipment. When it goes down in a Remote Community and pilots dont see the weather and flexibility to fix that equipment and it will be down for months say that someone from washington, d. C. , to fix it in a small remote village. You commit to work with me and this committee to fix those regulations. We want more safety than less safety. Mr. Whitaker i will make that commitment. Senator sullivan your predecessor met with the air carriers. Will you commit coming to alaska soon in your tenure if you are confirmed to make with air carriers and get information from them with the big challenges we are working on . Mr. Whitaker i would be happy to. Senator sullivan with regard to the initiative, will you work with this committee and me that is part of the f. A. A. Budget. And the f. A. A. Reauthorization that we are working on now, has good stuff in it, infrastructure, weather observation. And you have this real challenge in alaska with infrastructure weather reporting. The lower 48 doesnt have it. But can i get your commitment particularly as it relates to budget issues weather reporting issues . Mr. Whitaker you can. Senator sullivan i wanted to revisit the discussion we had on the issue, i have a letter i would like to submit for the record from the Alaska Air Carriers Association requesting assistance to reissue the guyedance with regard to the f. A. A. And the improved instrument approach procedures. This is a community that is wanting more safety, not less. Would you attract or amend or suspend that guidance snl people have a better understanding of how that is negatively alaska . Mr. Whitaker i will look at it. Senator warnock pi may be georgia is most important to aviation. We are home i appreciate all the comments georgia is home to the worlds busiest airport, Delta Airlines and public and pe airports across the state. According to the Georgia Department of and public use airports across the state. According to the Georgia Department of development, Aerospace Products are the states top export and second largest Manufacturing Industry responsible for 57 billion in annual Economic Impact and dpeas Aviation Industry employs 108,000 people. Like many industries, aviation faces a widespread Work Force Shortage affecting both commercial aviation and the f. A. A. s air Traffic Control which should concern all of us. How do we meet this moment and build a more sustainable representative and resilient aviation work force . Mr. Whitaker building the work force pipeline for the Aviation Industry is a key priority starting with controller work force. But also in piloting mechanics, other professions, these are all good professions and cast as wide a net as we can and build a a pipeline of folks taking these jobs. So it is a priority. Senator warnock you said we need to cast a net as wide as we can and i couldnt agree with you more and i believe the best way to foster wealth, train the aviation work force is to invest in aviation education. I think about a young man that i met down in georgia a few months ago his last name escapes me, zeke was his first name and had that light in his eye that you like to see, found that passion years in trying to become a pilot and thousands of dollars of his own money, he was still struggling to get there. And its entirely too hard for too many of our young people and he had that persistence and passion that not everybody has. Thats why i was proud to introduce the airways act and working with my colleagues to expand the f. A. A. Work force Development Programs and f. A. A. Reauthorization act of 2023 is also my belief once authorized, these grants should help more schools, train students from rural in nontraditional industries to work in the industry all at a reasonable cost. We need all of that talent and brilliance of our young people regardless of tear zip code. If confirmed would you work with me to ensure the Work Force DevelopmentGrant Program reaches students whether mechanics, pilots or aviation engineers. Mr. Whitaker part of my job would be the chef recruiting and making f. A. A. Employer of choice and welcome that role. Senator warnock i look forward to working with you. Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown, i commend my colleagues who supported the shortterm funding bill. A shutdown would hurt countless georgians and t. S. A. And trachg control i. R. S. And required to work without pay during the shutdown. You may find yourself if being confirmed as f. A. A. Administrator and facing the prospect of a Government Shutdown. How would a Government Shutdown in your opinion affect the f. A. A. And if tasked of sheparding it how would you lead it through this chaos. Mr. Whitaker it happened when i was there before. The biggest impact on training of controllers that would come come to a stop and controllers would no longer be in the tower. And thats not the result i would want in that situation. Advance advance one of the things that i worry about not just with the f. A. A. But Government Administration more broadly is that we focus on bizarre questions of identification and language rather than the very real problem you guys have to address. We want it in one of the most important functions and i want it done well. So let me ask that with that setup in mind, i have been worried about the focus on none gendered language that exists in some of the f. A. A. Maams. F. A. A. Hosted a quote aerospace is for everyone and language matters. We adopted inclusive terminology. As an example i struggle, the a. F. A. A. Should pilots and saying uncrewed and the cockpit is offensive and should stop being used. Im curious, mr. Whitaker, you seem like a serious guy, do you believe that f. A. A. Should eliminate those words . Mr. Whitaker the primary mission is safety and will be the top priority. I do think that language evolves. We went from to steward ises to flight attendants. But my focus is on safety and running the agency effectively. I understand that and language does evolve. The concern i have from the constituents in the state of ohio, they see a Government Agency that has an important function and instead of focusing on that it is changed unmanned to uncrewed. I want our Government Agencies to be a little bit less weird and focused on the mission. I hope you will take a similar approach. One way this is a particularly problem in the Aviation Industry, traveling by air has become more and more miserable it seems over the past couple of years. Airlines are too unstaffed and pent up demand from the covid era. One thing i have been aware of, travel times between certain major American Cities has gone up. We have this sense in america that we are on this pathway of Technological Progress that mars on and on and on but 50 years ago it took less time to fly from new york to houston than it does on today. Why in an era is it taking us longer to travel . That seems to indict the people who regulate the Aviation Industry and so i encourage you to be focused as many of the real problems instead of the fake problems. I think it will build trust in your agency if you are able to do that. Let me ask this final question, do you think its fair we are dealing with a labor shortage in the aviation whether whether its flight crews, pilots or ground staff . I think there are factors for those situations. For pilots, many decades, it was not a particularly well paid profession particularly at the entry level and became well paid at the end of your career. Those salaries have gone up pretty significantly. The market is working fine. A lot of people being atraghted to that profession. I put it in a different category than the controller issue. To the extent possible, i would ask you to be focused as much as you can on the administration on the safety challenges and not on the weird language priorities. It erodes confidence in federal agencies and thank you for being here. Congratulations. Before i dierve into a series of questions, one threshold question for me, would you commit to visit with indianas indiana stakeholders should you be confirmed . Mr. Whitaker absolutely. Someone who spent a lot of time that the approach you take to this job lends itself to aviation. In your background you focused on emerging technologies. Your previous experience at f. A. A. Suggests that. When balancing innovation on one hand and security in the other, they are not two sides of a coin. Innovations lead to increased safety which is your top priority. But i would like to unpack this topic with you. If confirmed maybe you could tell me how the f. A. A. Continues to prioritize safety but doesnt unnecessarily stifle innovation. Mr. Whitaker thats the balance we have to strike and we do it as safeguarding existing operations that as new entrants come in they are not interfering with the busy airspace we operate now. The goal is integration not creating separate spaces for folks to operate and that will take revising how we designed the airspace and going to take some time, but we need to develop a master vision for what that looks like and what technologies are needed and deploy those technologies. Senator young that could be one of the hallmarks of your tenure is to get that right. Maybe speak to the importance of embarking down that path. Discuss some of the upside of these emerging technologies, drones, advanced air mobility and there may be others. Mr. Whitaker we are following what the industry is doing and trying to understand what pace they are going to come into the system. The f. A. A. s role is to safely create an opportunity for those technologies to be proven out so they can be incorporated into the airspace. But there is huge opportunity in all those things for transforming travel and changing the structure of opening up new markets. Senator young you are interviewing to be our nations head safety regulator. The f. A. A. Also has an Important Role leading international Civil Aviation community on safety issues. And we have to maintain the f. A. A. s Global Leadership in aviation. Do you believe we are the Global Leader in aviation . Mr. Whitaker historically we have been and last few years have put that in question. Senator young you are referring to . To the mass crash. Senator young are you concerned that we dont have an ambassador to the International Aviation organization . Mr. Whitaker it is important to fulfill that role. It is an Excellent Organization one we should work with to drive safety globally. Senator young do you believe it is hurting our ability to maintain Global Leadership in aviation . Mr. Whitaker i will work to reassert that leadership. I dont have a specific view until recent months in that regard. Senator young f. A. A. Has not begun rulemaking on drone flights to allow for a safe and predictable process to ensure the u. S. Remains competitive. Would you commit it is maintained in short order . Mr. Whitaker yes. Senator young anything you would like to say to me. Mr. Whitaker thank you for your thoughtful questions. You are kind of mr. Next gen. Where do you think we are and what has been implemented and what advantage that has given us. Mr. Whitaker next gen. We used of building ipads and technology to move traffic using Satellite Technology rather than radar and communicate with data rather than voice communications. It is a significant upgrade. The early foundational investments allow us to add new efficiencies in that system and make it easier to control traffic. It was designed as 20102025 program, 15 years. Some of the programs will go beyond that. Because it was expanded and Popular Technology that was expanded to additional facilities. It is largely coming to a close and whats next for the airspace. In general to someone who might not understand this, we have moved from radar to satellite and guiding planes, sairveg fuel and costs. Mr. Whitaker you would feel a dissent in level and now it is much more efficient dissent and let it take down the runway much more efficient. How has that benefited aviation . Mr. Whitaker noise reduction and block time savings for airlines. It was a big upfront investments and will continue to yield benefits. Senator cantwell i think you were at the beginning of a very big transformation and we have more transformation to do. Youre the guy with the experience of that next gen implementation that tells you how big a challenge it was moving our country on to a better system. I agree with you, it could yield much bigger aviation advantages to the United States if we keep moving forward on this. I think we had a very engaged committee today and you can see this committee cares a lot about aviation. We have few people missing because they are dealing with other big thorny problems but big engagement. I heard the words safety and work force constantly from everyone and tells you what the priorities are. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Before we close the hearing i have to ask if you pledge to work collaboratively with the committee and that means timely responses and address policy issues and appear before the committee when requested. Mr. Whitaker qule. Senators will have until october 9 to submit questions. The witness will have until october 16 to respond to those questions and that concludes our hearing. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org