Duckworth: Aviation Industry, FAA Must Not Wait for the Next Tragedy to Make Our Skies Safer

Duckworth: Aviation Industry, FAA Must Not Wait for the Next Tragedy to Make Our Skies Safer

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - As our nation experiences an alarming surge of near misses and continues to grapple with the tragic DCA mid-air collision that killed 67 people, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)-Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee (CST) on Aviation, Space and Innovation-today stressed the importance of implementing the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) safety recommendations and putting our aviation workforce at the center of any efforts to make our skies safer. Video of Duckworth's remarks are available on the Senator's YouTube.

"The President seems far more interested in spending $300 billion to reconstruct Iran instead of spending a fraction of that to build the air traffic control infrastructure to secure the safety of our skies," said Duckworth. "Despite Republicans controlling Congress and passing two massive reconciliation spending bills, the Administration has still only secured one-third of the funding needed to modernize our air traffic control system. We must learn from the DCA catastrophe and from the hundreds of warning signs we see in close calls every year and finish the job."

Duckworth also reiterated during today's CST subcommittee hearing that pilots and air traffic controllers (ATC) must play a central role in developing and deploying new safety technology if we want to prevent near misses and make our skies safer.

"The safety of our skies would not be possible if not for the dedicated air traffic controllers who are too often overworked, understaffed and forced to use antiquated equipment," continued Duckworth. "While new equipment is necessary, many of the issues that threaten aviation safety are far harder to tackle than replacing wires-like rewiring the culture of complacency at the FAA, addressing the dire mental health issues that pilots and air traffic controllers too often experience, building a robust aviation workforce and ensuring that we listen to the workforce. We must remain steadfast because aviation safety requires every stakeholder-industry, labor, regulators and policymakers-to work together."

Duckworth today heard from the Air Line Pilots Association about the importance of equipping aircraft with integrated, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast In (ADS-B In) to provide pilots the information needed to keep the flying public safe, and she pressed Chris Sununu, President of Airlines for America, to listen to pilots and commit to ensuring its members equip fleets with ADS-B In.

"The pilots at the heart of air carriers' operations are asking that air carriers equip aircraft with ADS-B In," continued Duckworth. "In a time where every month seems to bring a new chilling runway incursion, near-miss or collision, I urge air carriers to listen to the pilots and air traffic controllers and do their part to ensure a safer, more resilient national airspace system."

Duckworth is a leading voice in the push to make our skies safer. For years, she has been sounding the alarm that we must make critical aviation safety investments immediately to prevent all-too-often near-misses from becoming catastrophic tragedies. Last week, the Senator called out the FAA and demanded it reject any pressure to rubberstamp Donald Trump's latest taxpayer-funded vanity project, the so-called "Triumphal Arch," that could jeopardize the safety of the flying public. Last month, she excoriated FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford for failing to implement urgently needed recommendations from the NTSB final report on the DCA mid-air collision that would strengthen the safety of our aviation system and prevent future tragedies.

In February, she lambasted the FAA for failing to carry out critical safety measures before the DCA collision and urged the Trump Administration to heed her calls to invest in our ATC workforce and equipment and improve inter-agency communication to protect the flying public. Last December, Duckworth pushed for long-term funding certainty for ATC modernization and impressed upon FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford to invest in both training and equipment upgrades in the modernization project.

Last Congress, Duckworth chaired two CST Aviation Subcommittee hearings-one in December 2024 and the other a year prior-to address our aviation industry's chilling surge in near-deadly close calls and underscore the urgent need to improve air traffic control systems to protect the flying public. Duckworth helped author the bipartisan FAA reauthorization law, which included several of her provisions to safeguard the 1,500-hour rule, improve consumer safety, expand the aviation workforce and enhance protections for travelers with disabilities.

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