Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The FAA is facing the prospect of a double lapse with a potential government shutdown but also expiration of its operating authority on October 1 should the U.S. Congress fail to reach an agreement on both.
A comprehensive five-year FAA reauthorization bill passed the House in July but got held up in the Senate over a dispute on the 1,500-hour rule, as well as landing slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. While the slots issue apparently is resolvable, lawmakers remain at loggerheads over the requirement for both the pilot and copilot to have at least 1,500 hours to operate under Part 121.
Measures have floated in the House and Senate that would seek to permit more simulator credit or alter the requisite 1,500 hours, The House version had called for up to 150 hours of simulator credit but lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2023-07-21/faa-reauthorization-bill-clears-house-strong-support">removed this measure</a> before final passage in that chamber.
The Air Line Pilots Association this week said it applauded Senate aviation subcommittee chair Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) “for holding the line on aviation safety during her remarks at The Aero Club of Washington, D.C., where she said that she will not let the FAA reauthorization move forward if the 1,500-hour rule is under attack.”
With no agreement in sight, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Sam Graves (R-Missouri) crafted a “clean” three-month reauthorization extension and preferred its passage as a stand-alone extension.
However, it is unclear whether that will be accepted in the Senate, which had discussed tying it to a short-term government funding continuing resolution (CR). Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg indicated in a press conference with reporters on Wednesday that there were a lot of scenarios under discussion, one of which “has a different timeline for the extension than it does for the CR. We’re trying to be ready and nimble to adapt to whatever Congress throws our way, but this is no way to run a ball club.”
Hill insiders were hoping to see some progress on a short-term extension this afternoon. When asked about the consequences of an expiration of the FAA’s operating authority, Buttigieg said it would have “a number of negative impacts, and a lot of people wouldn’t be able to effectively do their jobs.”
For starters, the agency would not be able to collect revenue from aviation excise taxes or spend revenue from the aviation trust fund, he feared, “and some of that might never come back in so effectively, it's kind of like a tax holiday for airline charges that never come in to improve airports and meet other critical needs.”
Buttigieg added, “It's right alongside the other forms of disruption is something that we just don't need right now.”
As for the looming shutdown, Buttigieg, acting FAA Administrator Polly Trottenberg, and National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, all have alerted of serious concerns should government funding lapse on September 30.
Key among them is a lapse in training for new air traffic controllers at a time when the agency is recovering from the pandemic and boosting staffing.
“We're not going to compromise on safety and a big part of what the agency does is sort of in the exempted categories, including controllers,” Trottenberg told reporters recently. “But training and contracting, a lot of things do get disrupted. If we shut down for a couple of weeks, it takes a lot more than a couple of weeks to recover, particularly on the training side…It is going to be challenging for a 24/7 operational agency like the FAA if there's a shutdown.”
Homendy echoed those concerns, saying, “I’m especially concerned we’d lose the progress we’re making in addressing the shortage of air traffic controllers, a safety-critical profession that’s already chronically understaffed. A shutdown would stop ATC training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City for the duration of the shutdown and take time after to ramp back up.”
She also warned, “A shutdown would bring to a screeching halt [the NTSB’s] ability to advocate for the safety measures needed to achieve zero death.”
Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify that the provision surrounding simulator time credit towards 1,500 had been removed from the House bill.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

FAA Facing Shutdown, Lapse in Authorization

Training, taxes could halt if U.S. Congress doesn't reach agreements

FAA is facing not only the funding shutdown, which will affect controller training and other key functions, but also its expiration of operating authority and lapse of aviation excise taxes.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

News and developments about aviation fuel, including jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

EBAA says industry still faces discrimination and ‘irrational’ decisions

Business Aviation Asserts Role in European Recovery

Curt Epstein

Out-of-scope operators are being erroneously charged

Business Aviation Customers Feel the RefuelEU Pinch

The airport is reducing peak access due to construction

CBAA Protests Reduced Bizav Slot Allocation at Montreal

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

The 1,300-page FAA bill was adopted one year ago

Lawmakers: Outages, Crashes Underscore FAA Bill Urgency

Amy Wilder

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

More In Regulations and Government

Business Aviation Asserts Role in European Recovery

EBAA says industry still faces discrimination and ‘irrational’ decisions

Business Aviation Customers Feel the RefuelEU Pinch

Out-of-scope operators are being erroneously charged

CBAA Protests Reduced Bizav Slot Allocation at Montreal

The airport is reducing peak access due to construction

Lawmakers: Outages, Crashes Underscore FAA Bill Urgency

The 1,300-page FAA bill was adopted one year ago

Eurocontrol Warns of Growing Air Traffic, Delays in Europe

Organization’s five-point strategy aims to reduce delays across Europe

Europe Adopts New Rules for Lost Com, Emergencies

New 7601 squawk code applies to IFR flights in VMC

Budget Bill Set for Next Vote with More ATC Funding

Future is unclear with Republican infighting

Bill Filed To Allow Supersonic Flight over Land in U.S.

Legislation would eliminate Mach 1 speed limit for aircraft if no sonic boom reaches the ground

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN