Summer travel begins latest test of aviation system

May 28, 2024

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By Chris Marquette and Oriana Pawlyk

Quick Fix

— Summer travel could test the transportation system.

— Lawmakers are split over how much federal funding should go into rebuilding the Baltimore bridge.

— How will tariffs on electric vehicles and other products factor into the 2024 election? We have you covered.

IT’S TUESDAY: 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, @oriana0214 and @ChrisMarquette_.

“You have to adapt/ Or you’ll be out of style/ It’s always the same/ You’re jumping someone else’s train.” Thanks to Carolyn Mulvihill.

Driving the day

SUMMER TRAVEL SURGE: Summer travel has arrived. And the thousands of flights and millions of passengers anticipated this season bring inherent risks that could test the system — especially after last year’s near-collisions at airports marked new highs, Oriana reports.

Crunching the numbers: Last year marked a new record of 11 near-collisions involving commercial planes — more than double the number seen in 2022. There hasn’t been the same pace of near-catastrophic or serious incidents so far this year, but air travel is expected to boom, leaving more room for errors to occur.

“With the summer high-demand travel season stretching the safety seams, it will be critically important to just slow down,” said Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines pilot and spokesperson for its pilots union, the Allied Pilots Association. “Every pilot, air traffic controller, mechanic, airline and the FAA need to slow down and take a minute for safety.”

And Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who chairs the Senate Commerce panel overseeing aviation, said the summer boom is “something we have to keep our eyes on and I am concerned about it.”

Where it’s trending: At least two serious incidents which made headlines occurred in April: one in New York and one in Washington, D.C. But the FAA has yet to classify the events in its internal system that tracks runway incursions,and could only provide data through March of this year — meaning there could be more once the FAA is done investigating any incidents. FAA offered in a statement that the agency and aviation industry are pursuing a “goal of zero serious close calls.”

Oriana breaks it all down here.

SO WHO HAS TO PAY? While President Joe Biden has committed to rebuild Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge with 100 percent federal dollars, some Republicans aren’t sold on that idea.

Crucial to interstate commerce: The bridge is an arterial road over the Patapsco River into the city, and its partially closed port has large domestic and international trade implications. Although there is consensus that it needs to be rebuilt, members are fractured around how the costs should be handled.

The skeptics: Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), chair of the House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, said in an interview that the bridge needs to get back up and running, — but he’s concerned about how much of the bill federal taxpayers will foot. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a member of the Transportation Committee, is skeptical of a 100 percent cost share and wants a plan on how the American taxpayer would be paid back. Chris has more.

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trade

WHAT’S NEXT ON TARIFFS: Tariffs are going to loom large in the 2024 presidential election. These taxes that importers pay on particular foreign goods coming into the U.S. have been in the spotlight recently, since Biden announced targeted new tariffs on China.

Biden has kept intact most of former President Donald Trump’s tariffs. He’s even expanded them on industries the White House has targeted with manufacturing subsidies of its own, like clean energy, vehicles and medical supplies.

Trump, however, says Biden is doing too little too late and plans to impose higher, more wide-ranging tariffs should he win in November, POLITICO’s Gavin Bade and Paroma Soni report.

Aviation

CRUZ IS PUMPED: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) fought hard to get the five additional long-haul, round-trip flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — one of the most contentious parts of the FAA bill H.R. 3935 (118) — and he’s making sure the people of San Antonio know it.

As airlines hope to clinch the new slots at Washington’s busy airport, American Airlines has its sights set on San Antonio. The lawmaker in a press conference Friday said it is crucial for San Antonio to have a direct flight.

“San Antonio, as everyone here knows, is the seventh largest city in America, and the fastest growing city in America. San Antonio is Military City, USA, [and it] has an enormous population of active duty military and also veterans that choose to make San Antonio home. Reagan airport is right next to the Pentagon, [and] Arlington Memorial Cemetery,” Cruz said.

Cruz was joined at the press conference by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), along with the mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg.

INTERNATIONAL CLIMB: Aviation advocacy group Climbing Fast will add the European Business Aviation Association as a formal member, bolstering the group’s reach internationally. The group unites over a dozen stakeholders around the goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

EYES ON EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: Reminder that the NTSB will hold a board meeting on June 25 at East Palestine High School in Ohio to vote on final findings, probable cause and recommendations. Chair Jennifer Homendy will have two community meetings there on June 24 and 25.

The Autobahn

— “737 crash families win renewed hope in fight to hold Boeing accountable.” Washington Post.

— “Tesla slashes Model Y production in Shanghai, data shows.” Reuters.

— “New flights are coming to Reagan National Airport. Where will they go?” Washington Post.

— “Airbus fits electric truck with airliner cockpit to study safer taxiing.” Reuters.

— “Singapore Airlines drops meal service when seatbelt sign on after deadly turbulence.” Reuters.

— “‘I Was Dripping Blood’: Inside One of the Worst Turbulence Accidents Ever.” Wall Street Journal.

— “A 100-Ton Locomotive With No One in the Cab.” New York Times.

— “Iran President’s Crash Highlights Struggle to Upgrade an Aging Fleet.” Wall Street Journal.

On the calendar

Nothing on our radar!

Know of an event we should have on our calendar? Let MT know at transpocalendar@politicopro.com.