Letter to Dan Elwell, Acting Administrator of Federal Aviation Administration - Meng, Schumer, and Gillibrand Call on FAA to Increase Transparency of Public Meetings on Nextgen

Letter

Dear Acting Administrator Elwell:

We write to you regarding the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) NextGen Advisory Committee and request that the FAA increase transparency regarding the committee's publicly held meetings.

NextGen modernization of our National Airspace System impacts not only airlines, airports, and air traffic control, but the flying public and people living near airports. In this regard, the NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) meetings are an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the technologies, operations, and issues regarding NextGen implementation. Unfortunately, we are concerned about the following limitations and undue barriers our constituents face in their continued engagement with NAC.

First, according to FAA internal guidelines, public notification of upcoming NextGen Advisory Committee meetings are only required to be published 15 days before a meeting. This leaves interested members of the public little time to make arrangements to attend. For example, the next meeting of the NAC will be held on July 30, 2019 in McLean, Virginia. This gives members of the public in New York State only 15 days to purchase a flight or train ticket for travel--costs for which can rise prohibitively in the days leading up to the travel day--and to book accommodations if necessary.

Second, announcements are published in the Federal Register, which can be difficult for members of the public to navigate when hunting for a specific meeting, and identical announcements are not made on the more user-friendly FAA website until several days afterwards.

Third, for those who are unable to attend in person--due to cost, time constraints, or physical inability to travel--the opportunities for public input are limited at this time, as the FAA does not videotape or livestream these meetings.

As such, we request that the FAA revise your guidelines to incorporate the following changes:

Ensure that when announcements are made in the Federal Register of the meeting time, they are simultaneously published in a more user-friendly location, such as FAA's website;
Extend the current 15 days of advanced Notice of Public Meetings with a longer lead time; and
Make the NAC meetings viewable and accessible via livestream.

Implementing these actions would make the public meetings more inclusive to all members of the public and increase transparency. We look forward to hearing from you on incorporating these elements.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

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