Minnesota State Wire

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN) announced that their bipartisan legislation to help prevent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system outages has passed the House and Senate and is headed to the President's desk to be signed into law. The NOTAM Improvement Act would require the FAA to establish a task force to strengthen the resiliency and cybersecurity of the NOTAM system, which alerts pilots of safety and location hazards on flight routes. This bill follows a recent NOTAM system outage in January that grounded flights nationwide.  The NOTAM Improvement Act is sponsored in the Senate by Senators Klobuchar (D-MN), Moran (R-KS), and Capito (R-WV) and in the House by Rep. Stauber (R-MN) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA).

“Travelers in the United States deserve safe and dependable air travel service, not nationwide ground stops caused by system failures like we saw earlier this year. That’s why as co-chair of the Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus, I’m focused on strengthening our air travel infrastructure,” said Klobuchar. “By upgrading and modernizing the FAA’s NOTAM system, this new law will improve aviation safety and prevent system outages from derailing travel.”

“I’m glad to see my NOTAM Improvement Act clear both chambers of Congress and head to the President’s desk. This critical legislation will improve air travel for Americans by making the NOTAM system work better for pilots and passengers alike. I look forward to seeing the bill be signed into law soon,” said Stauber. 

The task force would be composed of representatives from air carriers, airports, and airline pilot, aircraft dispatcher, and FAA personnel unions, as well as aviation safety and cybersecurity experts.

Original source can be found here.