Presented by Delta Air Lines: Delivered every Monday by 10 a.m., Weekly Transportation examines the latest news in transportation and infrastructure politics and policy.
| | | | |  | | By Oriana Pawlyk | Presented by Delta Air Lines | | | | | — The NTSB will hear from its investigators this week on what they’ve found so far into the Boeing 737 MAX door plug blowout. — The Justice Department is asking a federal court to avoid issuing a stay for two airlines also battling the Biden administration’s airline fee transparency rule. — August recess is officially here. What’s on Congress’ plate when lawmakers return? IT’S MONDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. We’re glad you’re here. Send tips, feedback and song lyrics to Chris at cmarquette@politico.com and Oriana at opawlyk@politico.com and follow us at, @ChrisMarquette_ and @Oriana0214. You know the funny thing about planes / Cars, trucks, and bullet trains / Is they'll take you places yeah.
| | | | A message from Delta Air Lines: Delta Air Lines is committed to supporting our customers after the recent CrowdStrike disruption. Learn what we’re doing to ease the travel experience. Learn more. | | | | | NTSB BOEING HEARINGS ON DECK: The NTSB this week will kick off a two-day fact-finding hearing on the details it's gathered since a door plug flew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 in the skies above Portland, Oregon, earlier this year. The agency won’t be releasing any probable cause findings just yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be things we can learn about what went wrong. WHAT WE’RE LISTENING FOR: The NTSB’s goal will be to go “deep” into exactly how four bolts on the plane were left off, “by whom, and under what process,” said aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who’s previously worked at the NTSB and FAA. A MATTER OF WHEN: Guzzetti said it’ll be key to understand whether the parties and NTSB have been able to nail down if there were signs that the door plug assembly was faulty before it popped off at 16,000 feet. (The aircraft had entered service just a little over two months before the incident.) — “I'll be interested to hear if they did think that door was moving on previous flights because the four bolts weren't in,” Guzzetti told POLITICO. “Why did it come loose and blow out on that particular flight?” ALASKA SCRUTINY: Findings related to Boeing’s fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems and Alaska Airlines itself will be telling, too, Guzzetti said. That particular Alaska jet prior to the flight had pressurization warning lights activate in the days leading up to the blowout, and Alaska held that aircraft back from long-haul trips until a thorough inspection was completed. Reminder: Boeing won’t be permitted to ask questions of other witnesses. The NTSB in June sanctioned Boeing for publicly releasing private investigative details, which Boeing has since apologized for doing. (Though Guzzetti said participants “never really do” even when they can.) Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | WHAT TO DO ABOUT THESE MOVES: Some New York lawmakers want answers about why the FAA is moving forward with relocating air traffic controllers away from New York to Philadelphia. And some are threatening to file legislation to reverse it. The lawmakers say it’s an unnecessary disruption to the controllers’ lives and families, and the FAA (and the airline industry) say it’s the best way to deal with chronic congestion issues in the busy New York airspace. SWITCHED ON: As of last week, Philadelphia’s TRACON welcomed 24 controllers who will help watch over Newark and surrounding airspace — some that volunteered. And N.Y. Republican Rep. Nick LaLota told your MT host in a statement he’s exploring legislation to undo it, possibly through amendments to the House's fiscal 2025 transportation spending bill. More from me on the story. NOT ANOTHER STAY: The Justice Department on Friday made a request to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals not to issue a stay for Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines, which are asking the government for relief from the Biden administration’s airline fee transparency rule. Several major airlines and its industry group are also suing DOT over the rule. To recap: The same court last month said “the [r]ule likely exceeds DOT’s authority and will irreparably harm airlines” and requests that another 5th Circuit legal panel rules on its merits before it goes into effect. More from DOJ's filing. OUT: A California judge last week threw out a lawsuit from a family traveling aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 — which experienced the door plug blowout in January — against Boeing and its fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems. U.S. District Judge Wesley Hsu granted Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems their motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, according to Law360, but Alaska remains the defendant in the case. The airline has until Aug. 14 to respond to the family’s allegations. — The Aero Club of Washington has created its first “person of the year” award, and will bestow the honor this year to not one, but four, individuals. Those four are the architects of the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act: House T&I Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and ranking member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), and Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and ranking member Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
| | LAME DUCK LOGJAM INCOMING: It’s officially August recess. So when lawmakers return in September, they’ll have just about three weeks before the Sept. 30 government funding deadline, and will most certainly need a continuing resolution to keep funding afloat past the election season and through the end of the year. Both House and Senate appropriations committees last month advanced each of their fiscal 2025 transportation-HUD spending bills through committee, but that’s as far as those got. That’s in addition to the mountain of other priorities legislators have to get through, which E&E’s Andres Picon breaks down in this rundown on Congress’ spending outlook. NO BOOST FOR MANCHIN: West Virginia may be reaping benefits from the sweeping climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act, but Sen. Joe Manchin is seeing none of that love for himself. E&E’s Kelsey Brugger gives an inside look of Manchin’s decision-making as lawmakers put together the 2022 climate law worth hundreds of billions of dollars — and what it cost him in the end as the senator heads for the exit. Speaking of IRA: Some top Republicans have already expressed a desire to scrap — or at least modify — tax credits created by IRA if they take a full majority in November, reports E&E’s Garrett Downs. Should they gain control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, key GOP lawmakers like Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — one of the top Republicans on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee — are already planning to use a budget reconciliation package to get a surplus of energy initiatives across, the top being to green-light new oil and gas leasing to create government revenue.
| | | | A message from Delta Air Lines:   | | | | | Our colleagues at POLITICO Influence have a rundown of lobbying groups making a push in Washington since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge earlier this year, and include nearly two dozen entities. PI has the full list.
| | — “The Chesapeake Bay Bridge was briefly closed when a nearby ship had a steering problem.” The Associated Press. — “Uber, China’s BYD, form partnership to deploy 100,000 EVs in EU and Latin America.” The Associated Press. — “A new Sherrod Brown? Democrat runs from climate agenda.” E&E News. — “These Are the Airlines Cutting Flights to Israel as Regional Tensions and Prices Skyrocket.” Haaretz. — “SoCal air regulators approve plan to phase out diesel at rail yards.” POLITICO Pro. — “Frontier Airlines pilot arrested and escorted off aircraft by police in Houston.” Business Insider. — “Blumenthal & Matsui Introduce Bicameral Legislation to Improve Safety of Cruise Ship Passengers.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal. — “Our reporter spent an entire day on NJ Transit trains. Frustrated riders had lots to say.” NorthJersey.com
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