Just to really put a very fine point on it. As we note on this chart, 75 feet is less than the wingspan of this CRJ700.

For the last few months, I've been working on a story about January's crash near Washington, D.C. What I learned was that it was simply an accident waiting to happen. Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...

Rep. Troy Nehls says the U.S. House T&I cmte will mark up a bill on Thursday advancing efforts to repeal restrictions on supersonic flight.

FAA chief Bryan Bedford says President Donald Trump demanded a $200 mm reduction in fee costs w/ Peraton for its role as ATC modernization integrator.

FAA chief Bryan Bedford says at Congressional hearing that he cannot comment on NDAA as its going through the lawmaking process, but adds: "Our intent is not to go back to where we were prior to Jan. 29" Says FAA was not consulted on the provision w/ a technical briefing, as is usually the case.

Sen. Ted Cruz equates the recent JetBlue/DOD near-miss near Venezuela with the ADS-B convo around the DCA mid-air collision, pointing out that the DOD aircraft this weekend "wasn't broadcasting its location" as its transponder was off. Important: transponders are NOT the same as ADS-B.

This statement here highlights the challenge with NDAA. Nehls, aviation subcom. chair, says he has concerns w/ section unwinding DCA safety initiatives. BUT he voted for it anyways - because NDAA is a huge vehicle & must pass. Now goes to the Senate. I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes law.

Why are helicopter folks so skeptical of eVTOL developers' projected certification timelines? In part, it's because the 🚁 industry has struggled to get even basic safety upgrades certified by the FAA in recent years, as I wrote about for Vertical Magazine: verticalmag.com/features/tra...

Exclusive: A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would reinstate an aviation-specific SAF tax credit repealed by the One Big Beautiful Bill in July (via @theaircurrent.com): theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

BREAKING: Peraton selected as "prime integrator" for ATC modernization project, U.S. DOT announces.

FAA ‘public charter’ regulatory crackdown stalls under Trump administration (via Flight Global) www.flightglobal.com/aerospace/fa...

Big news for NYC airports: Rick Cotton, Head of the Port Authority, Is Stepping Down (via @nytimes.com) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/n...

NEWS: Rep. Troy Nehls, chair of the house aviation subcommittee, will not seek re-election next year. Nehls has been a staunch advocate of Age 67, paying controllers during shutdowns, etc.

I asked lawmakers about the political feasibility of proposals to exempt FAA from the effects of future shutdowns. Many were supportive. Few were optimistic about it happening. Seeking a solution to aviation’s government shutdown problem (via @theaircurrent.com): theaircurrent.com/aviation-pol...

Good summary here by Colleen of a very strange hearing

The irony of this hearing -- which was called to examine how partisan shutdowns impact aviation -- is that it has turned into an *actual* partisan fight, further drawing aviation into a political maelstrom.

Light attendance for a hearing about the impacts of shutdowns on aviation. This is expected to be … fiery.

FAA Administrator Bedford confirms earlier @theaircurrent.com reporting at an industry event which said that the agency is not eyeing a full replacement of the common automation platform, a key ATC software technology. theaircurrent.com/air-traffic-...

Breaking: FAA removes all scheduled flight restrictions effective tomorrow at 6 am:

BREAKING: FAA lowers scheduled flight capacity cuts to 3% starting tomorrow at 6 a.m.

Scoop: The FAA has asked forcefully-relocated Newark-area air traffic controllers to stay in Philadelphia for an additional two years as it looks to bolster its still-low staffing numbers (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/air-traffic-...

Key House Democrat supportive of DOT flight cuts after safety data briefing theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc... (via @willguisbond.com) #staycurrent

New: Congressman Larsen told me that he came around on the DOT's flight cut justification after initially calling it “a dramatic and unprecedented step." For @theaircurrent.com subs: read on for an interesting tidbit about his convo with FAA. Read here: theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

Updated White House guidance shows POTUS set to sign bill reopening the government at 9:45 p.m. Note: the House has not yet passed this legislation.

BREAKING: DOT and FAA freeze U.S. scheduled flight capacity cuts at 6% citing "a rapid decline in controller callouts." "Such strong staffing levels suggest a further ramp up in-flight reductions are not necessary to keep the traveling public safe." Revised order: www.faa.gov/newsroom/Eme...

Secretary Duffy confirms earlier @theaircurrent.com reporting that a common automation platform for the “brand new” ATC system will most likely take longer than the 3 year timeline he has set for the rest of the modernization project. theaircurrent.com/air-traffic-...

Duffy adds that some airlines may have to “stop flying” if the government doesn’t reopen.

Secretary Duffy says that if the House does not vote to reopen the government tomorrow, the U.S. airspace system will “not make it to Thanksgiving.”

This @bloomberg.com story supports the reporting laid out by @theaircurrent.com last week (theaircurrent.com/airlines/air...) Some Airline CEOs Pushed Trump Officials to Justify Flight Cuts (via @allyversprille.bsky.social et al) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) has introduced a bill in the U.S. House which would "prohibit the restriction of commercial flights before the restriction of private flights during a lapse in appropriations." www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

AOPA responds:

A4A: From Oct. 1-29, A4A member airlines canceled just 11 flights due to controller staffing issues; from Oct. 30-Nov. 9, however, controller staffing issues caused them to cancel 4,162, including 3,756 on Nov. 7-9.

Remarkable chart from Airlines for America that shows just how bad things have gotten in the last week:

This and the comment from Duffy about using military controllers to staff facilities really make this seem more and more like the PATCO days.

BREAKING: President Trump says he will be recommending controllers who "didn't take any time off" receive a $10k bonus, adds that "those that did nothing but complain, and took time off" will have a "a negative mark."

FAA Bans Most General Aviation Flights At 12 U.S. Airports (via AvWeek) aviationweek.com/business-avi...

"We spoke with nine C-level U.S. airline executives and senior officials across six U.S. carriers for this story. They expressed varying degrees of skepticism, but none felt the cuts were without some level of political interference."

Nine c-level U.S. airline executives and senior officials told @jonostrower.com and I how the industry is really feeling about the 10% flight cuts — and why they’re skeptical of the FAA’s safety justification. READ HERE on @theaircurrent.com — theaircurrent.com/airlines/air...

Airline and NAS user group frustration is growing by the minute as the FAA final order on the 10% flight cuts is *still* not published. I understand that these go into effect as soon as tomorrow morning, meaning airlines have an increasingly slim window for implementation.

Not a great day for the FAA ATC operations plan to be... empty?

Ed's notes on the 10% flight cuts -- So much is changing every minute right now with how these reductions in scheduled capacity will go down. Be skeptical of information you see in the ether until things are enshrined on paper -- something everyone is hoping we will see this morning.

NEW - statement from air traffic controllers union

FAA chief Bryan Bedford says this will affect 40 “high traffic” airports. The full list will be released tomorrow.

BREAKING: The U.S. Department of Transportation announces it will reduce scheduled airspace capacity by 10% starting Friday morning if the government shutdown has not ended, citing "growing pressure" in the NAS as controllers and other personnel continue to go unpaid. Developing story.

FAA statement after a UPS MD-11 headed to Hawaii crashed on takeoff from Louisville Airport about an hour ago.

Boeing's digital services spin off into their own biz unit dubbed "Jeppesen ForeFlight" and complete their divestment from the plane maker, confirming @jonostrower.com scoop from last week. www.jeppesenforeflight.com/news/jeppese...

Current NAS staffing trigger status. Each facility listed is understaffed right now. This is easily the worst we’ve seen it for the entirety of the shutdown.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy today to air traffic controllers at a press conf. with Speaker Mike Johnson: "Thank you for coming and working, we appreciate that. Come to work, even if you don't get a paycheck, we need you to come to work. But if they do not, we'll know whose fault it is."

The bipartisan ROTOR Act, the first safety legislation since the DCA crash, was reported favorably by the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and will go to the full Senate floor (at an unknown time) for a full vote.

The Power Struggle Over Who Will Run NASA Is Turning Ugly (via @wsj.com) www.wsj.com/politics/pol...