U.S. Boosts Air Travel Safety, Efficiency, Fairness

TSA expects to screen record-breaking number of passengers this Thanksgiving travel season

How DOT and FAA are working to ensure smooth holiday travel

• To lessen inland volume and reduce delays during holiday travel, the FAA will use special airspace off the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico that the military releases to the FAA for commercial planes to use.
• Throughout the year, FAA collaborates with airlines to understand where they will increase operations and identify efficient and safe traffic flow management strategies.
• DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection has met with nearly all ten large U.S. airlines to ensure they are operating realistic flight schedules ahead of the holiday travel season.

This year saw the largest air travel volumes with low cancellation rates

• Across the National Airspace System, 2024 is on track to have the lowest cancellation rate in a decade. The percentage of scheduled flights cancelled is currently at 1.3% for 2024 across the National Airspace System.
• Americans have traveled in record-breaking numbers this year. TSA has screened nearly 800 million people thus far, and the top ten travel days in TSA’s history have all occurred in 2024. On July 7, 2024, TSA set a single-day record, safely screening over 3 million people. Passenger volumes have reached record highs, with a growth rate of 17% over the past two years.

Better, Safer, Airports Thanks to President Biden’s Infrastructure Package

• President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes unprecedented funding – $25 billion over five years – to improve, repair, and expand airports across America.
• The infrastructure law is already funding improvements at over 1,500 airports across the country.
• Some airports have already cut the ribbon on new terminal projects funded by the infrastructure law, including:
  • Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona replaced a temporary four gate facility with a permanent five gate modernized ADA compliant terminal.
  • Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport in Washington replaced the terminal to accommodate larger aircraft and an increase in passengers. The new terminal is equipped with energy efficient systems and meets ADA compliance.
  • Key West International Airport in Florida built a new airside terminal building equipped with seven passenger boarding bridges and an expanded baggage claim and passenger security screening checkpoint.
  • Missoula Montana Airport in Montana constructed a new energy efficient terminal to support increased passenger demand.

President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg have advanced the largest expansion of airline passengers rights

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Transportation has returned a record amount of refunds to travelers, issued the largest fines against airlines for failing passengers, and advanced the biggest expansion of airline consumer rights ever.

• Created a new rule to require airlines to provide automatic cash refunds to passengers when owed. The rule makes clear that airline passengers are entitled to a refund when their flight is canceled or significantly changed and they no longer wish to take that flight or be rebooked, when their checked baggage is significantly delayed, or when extra services they paid for – like Wi-Fi – are not provided. The rule also requires refunds to be automatic, prompt, in the original form of payment, and in the full amount paid.
  • Passengers can better understand their new refund rights HERE.
• Created a new rule to protect consumers from costly surprise airline junk fees. The rule fosters a more competitive airline market by requiring airlines to disclose critical extra fees upfront – like change fees and baggage fees – to ensure consumers can better understand the true cost of their travel. The rule also bans “bait-and-switch” advertising tactics and requires airlines to clearly tell passengers upfront that a seat is included with the cost of their ticket, and they do not need to pay extra. Airlines have challenged this rule in court, and the court has put a temporary hold on implementation of the rule. The Department will continue to defend this rule and notes that nothing in the Court’s decision prevents airlines from voluntarily complying with this common-sense rule.
• Secured enforceable guarantees from airlines to provide food, lodging, and other support when they strand passengers. After DOT launched flightrights.gov, all 10 large U.S. airlines committed to providing passengers with free rebooking, meals, hotel accommodations, and other amenities when they are responsible for causing a significant delay or cancellation. These are new commitments the airlines added to their customer service plans that DOT can legally ensure they adhere to through enforcement action.
• Ensured airline passengers received nearly $4 billion in refunds and reimbursements owed to them – including over $600 million owed to passengers affected by the Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown in 2022.
• Issued nearly $225 million in penalties against airlines for consumer protection violations since President Biden took office. In comparison, between 1996 and 2020, DOT collectively issued just over $70 million in penalties against airlines for consumer protection violations.
• Expanded the Department’s capacity to review air travel service complaints by partnering with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, which will help hold airlines accountable and protect the rights of the traveling public. Attorneys general who have signed a memorandum of understanding with DOT will be able to access DOT’s complaint system in the near future.
• The Department of Transportation is currently pursuing additional rulemakings that would:
  • Make passenger compensation and amenities mandatory so that travelers are taken care of when airlines cause flight delays or cancellations, such as staffing issues or mechanical problems.
  • Ban family seating junk fees and guarantee that parents can sit with their children for no extra charge when they fly. Before President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg pressed airlines last year, no airline committed to guaranteeing fee-free family seating. Now, four airlines guarantee fee-free family seating, as the Department is working on its family seating junk fee ban proposal.
  • Expand the rights for passengers who use wheelchairs and ensure that they can travel safely and with dignity.

Accelerating Air Traffic Controller Hiring

• To combat a long-standing air traffic controller shortfall, FAA is moving full-speed ahead to hire and train new staff. FAA exceeded its hiring target of 1,800 hires this year, with a goal of 2,000 next year.
• The FAA has taken steps to ramp up hiring and training, including:
  • Establishing a new Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) that bolsters the current hiring pipeline by allowing the FAA to hire more candidates who can begin facility training immediately upon graduation.
  • Announcing the first three colleges and universities in the Enhanced AT-CTI.
    • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
    • Tulsa Community College and the University of Oklahoma
  • Offering two hiring periods for air traffic controllers in April and October 2024.
  • Continuing year-round hiring track for experienced controllers from the military and private industry.
  • Deploying tower simulator training systems at 40 facilities this year, with all 95 facilities having these by December 2025.

The FAA is tackling runway close calls

• The FAA and the aviation community are pursuing a goal of zero serious close calls. The FAA has seen a recent drop in serious runway incidents.
  • In the first nine months of 2024, the rate of serious runway incursions (Category A and B) decreased by 72% from the same period in 2023, from 0.43 per one million airport operations to 0.12 per one million operations.
• The FAA has taken action to address and prevent runway close calls:
  • Deployed new airfield surveillance systems that will reduce the risk of runway incursions by improving air traffic controllers’ situational awareness. These new Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) systems are operational at four of the nation’s fastest growing airports. Fourteen more will be deployed by the end of this calendar year.
  • Installed Approach Runway Verification (ARV) systems at 74 airport control towers. ARV systems provide audio and visual alerts to controllers if an arriving aircraft is lined up to land on the wrong airport surface.
  • Installed Runway Incursion Devices (RID) at five airports for operational evaluation. RID provides air traffic controllers with audio and/or visual indication when a runway is not available for arrivals or departures. The FAA will begin deploying this in January to 74 airports.
  • Hold regular runway safety action team meetings at airports across the country and initiated an audit of runway incursion risk at the 45 busiest airports in the U.S.
  • Enhanced training with modernized simulators to help get new air traffic controller hires through training more efficiently.
  • Provided updated Arrival Alert Notices to pilots at various airports to address wrong surface events.
  • Standardized hot spot symbology and verbiage for taxiway and runway intersection hot spot hazards.