On this week’s Scribecast, Rob Bluey and Lachlan Markay interview Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza about the company’s opposition to new regulations from the Department of Transportation. The interview runs about 12 minutes. Click here to subscribe to Scribecast, the weekly podcast of the Center for Media and… Read more
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation needs to collect substantial information about aircraft flying in U.S. airspace in order to ensure safety in air travel. The FAA also must share flight data with the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and law enforcement… Read more
Testimony before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Committee on State Government March 30, 2011 Chairman Metcalfe, Ranking Member Josephs, and committee members: thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts and answer your questions to… Read more
The Obama Administration has decided that the government will engage in limited collective bargaining with airline security screeners. This decision will reduce the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) effectiveness. Collective bargaining impairs rewarding merit and raises the likelihood of illegal labor disputes. The limitations on union negotiations only partially mitigate these… Read more
On January 28, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) head John Pistole announced with little warning or explanation that the Screening Partnership Program (SPP), which allows airports to privatize their security forces, would no longer expand to additional airports. This action makes no sense. Private security screeners, under the… Read more
Early this year, the new Congress will confront several challenges relating to the size, scope, and nature of the federal surface transportation programs. These challenges will in large part be driven by the need to constrain overall federal spending and by shortfalls in the highway trust fund. Congress should embrace… Read more
Ma Ying-jeou, inaugurated as Taiwan's new president on May 20, 2008, has pledged to strengthen Taiwan's economic and political relationships with China. At the same time, he has good reason to preserve Taiwan's separate identity, and the U.S. has good reason to support him. Taiwan is one of… Read more
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, air security has focused overwhelmingly on commercial aviation, and on passenger airlines in particular. Also flying in America's skies every day, however, are thousands of small airplanes, many of them owned and operated by individuals. A national air security plan should ensure that the skies are… Read more
On June 15, 1999, the House passed H.R. 1000 (the Aviation Investment Reform Act for the 21st Century, or AIR 21), to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through fiscal year (FY) 2004 and to increase significantly federal spending in support of commercial aviation.1 To make room for this additional spending… Read more
[caption id="attachment_76137" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="A Libyan rebel holds a Kingdom of Libya flag at...… Read more
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that employers added 117,000 jobs in July, up from June's dismal...… Read more
President Obama jetted out of town to celebrate his 50th birthday in Chicago last night, an event that doubled as a...… Read more
According to the U.S. State Department, since 2003 over 32,000 illicitly held and loosely secured shoulder-fired...… Read more
Now that President Obama has signed the Budget Control Act into law following weeks of grueling debate, lawmakers are...… Read more
NASA's shuttle program came to an end yesterday when Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center after a 13-day...… Read more
Should a union need the support of most workers at a company in order to represent them? Most people would say yes—but...… Read more
Well deserved kudos to the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Janet Napolitano. Since the failed December...… Read more
Special interest handouts are not a pretty sight. Perhaps that is why lawmakers buried their latest one inside the bill...… Read more