Subcommittee on Aviation

Thomas Petri, Ranking Republican

The Subcommittee on Aviation has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, and international issues.  This jurisdiction includes all aspects of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) except for research activities.  The Subcommittee also has jurisdiction over the impacts of transportation security on the aviation industry and aviation safety.

Link to Legislation Referred to the Subcommittee

Recent News

Mica Demands Obama and Congress Act After US Air Accident

Friday, January 16, 2009
Mica praises the pilot of US Air Flight 1549 and those involved in the rescue of passengers and crew, and calls on the President-elect and Congress to take action on some long-delayed safety matters relating to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Mica: No Pork in Stimulus II, Only Vetted Projects

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Building our nation’s infrastructure, creating jobs and avoiding a pork-laden bill must be the goal of any economic stimulus measure.
Click here to read more subcommittee news

Jurisdiction

The Subcommittee on Aviation has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, and international issues.  This jurisdiction includes all aspects of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) except for research activities, which are within the jurisdiction of the Science Committee. 

Prior to the September 11th terrorist attacks, the number of air travelers in the United States had reached record levels and had begun to strain the existing infrastructure capacity.  For several years after the attacks, the demand for air travel decreased and the impending capacity crunch was delayed while officials in the Federal government, at the airlines and at airports dealt with many new security issues.

Demand has returned to pre-9/11 levels, however, and the Subcommittee will continue to contend with existing capacity and security concerns, as well as an aging air traffic control system.

The Aviation Subcommittee is also traditionally the lead subcommittee with jurisdiction over the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents and other transportation accidents.  The essential air service program, which ensures commercial air service to smaller communities, the war risk insurance program, which provides insurance coverage for commercial flights to high-risk parts of the world, and passenger and cargo commercial space transportation also fall within the purview of the Aviation Subcommittee.

The Subcommittee continues to exercise oversight jurisdiction over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and continues to have jurisdiction over the impacts of transportation security on the aviation industry and aviation safety.

Issues and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Aviation Subcommittee include:

  • Federal Aviation Administration
  • Air traffic control modernization
  • Airport capacity
  • Airport Improvement Program grants
  • Aviation antitrust issues
  • Aviation labor, as governed by the Railway Labor Act
  • Aviation safety
  • Aviation security, including the Transportation Security Administration
  • Commercial aviation
  • Essential air service for small communities
  • General aviation
  • International aviation
  • National Transportation Safety Board
  • War risk insurance
  • Commercial space transportation and tourism
  • Air carrier operations
  • Use of the navigable airspace
For a more complete description of the Subcommittee's jurisdiction, click here to link to the official Jurisdiction and Activities document for the Subcommittee on Aviation, as approved by the full Committee at the beginning of the 110th Congress.

Members

Republican Members of the
Subcommittee on Aviation
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
111th Congress

Thomas E. Petri, WI, Ranking Member
Additional members to be announced...

Ranking Member Petri's Biography

Thomas Petri, Ranking Republican

Thomas Petri, Ranking Republican, Subcommittee on Aviation

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