Washington D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland questioned U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy about enforcing the FAA’s 1500-hour pilot training requirement, supporting high-speed rail investments, and updating outdated NASA infrastructure to enhance safety and efficiency. Strickland’s remarks are transcribed below, and can be viewed here:
Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland: Thank you, Chairman. Secretary Duffy, it’s good to have you here today, and I look forward to working with you.
So a few things: I was glad to hear that you are in support of high-speed rail, and I think many of us share the idea that we have to invest wisely and make sure that we have a product that’s going to deliver. So the Cascadia Corridor in Washington state that hits Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, BC – I look forward to working with you and your administration to get funding for that project.
But I want to just really put a fine point on what my colleague asked about. So we know that after the tragic crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 that there was a FAA rule for pilot training time for 1500 hours.
So to put a fine point on my question, will you commit to holding the FAA Administrator accountable for enforcing this specific rule of 1500 hours of training?
Secretary Sean Duffy: Per my other answer, the answer is yes, and I think he was clear and consistent with my answer. If technology changes and there’s ways that we can give some credit for simulator time, would I be open to that? Yes. Do I have a plan to do that? No. But you and I share the mission of we want pilots to be really well-trained. And how do we do that?
And the 1500-hour rule has been very effective. If technology comes into play that we could get data that shows they could be even better trained with some simulator time, I’m open to that. I think you would be too. But we care about the same thing.
Strickland: But we do have 1500 hours of training as the baseline?
Duffy: 100%. But what do you get credit for? Could you get some more simulator training credit? Possibly. No plan, but I think that’s a reasonable conversation as the technology and the simulators develop.
Strickland: All right, now I’m going to switch over to NASA, which you now oversee as Acting Administrator. So more than 80% of NASA’s facilities are past their life, many dating back to the 1960s if you can believe it. Aging infrastructure makes it harder to monitor the atmosphere, from tracking storms to managing air traffic.
So can you speak specifically about your plan to address this aging infrastructure with projects by NASA, NOAA, and even the FAA, and how you think updating these systems can actually help the FAA maximize air travel efficiencies and safety?
Duffy: I think that would be premature for me. In practice, today will be my first full day at NASA. And I want to spend time with the staff and the team, but once I do that, I’m happy to have an additional conversation with you about that.
And I didn’t want to talk about that role. I wanted to talk about the DOT role. But in my other capacity, I’m happy to have a conversation and pick your brain on what you think we should do.
Strickland: All right, thank you. I yield back.
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