Buffalo, New York- May 21, 2013

With Key Safety Rules Hanging in the Balance, Flight 3407 Families to Attend Foxx’s Senate Confirmation Hearing on Wednesday

Families Call on Obama Administration to Stand Up to Airlines’ Pressure to Water Down Regional Airline Safety Reforms

With the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a sprint to finish one key regional airline safety measure by August 1st, and a second by mid-October, the ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’ announced that they would be present at Wednesday’s Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing for Mayor Anthony Foxx.     “There is no doubt that the airlines are employing every trick in their lobbying playbook to find the weakest link at FAA, DOT, or OMB and get them to agree to water down these proposed regulations in their favor,” declared Scott Maurer of Moore, South Carolina, who lost his thirty year-old daughter Lorin in the crash.  “Over the past few decades, trade associations like Airlines for America and the Regional Airline Association have been the undisputed heavyweight champions when it has come to taking on safety advocacy groups like us and finding a way to obstruct the rulemaking process.

As Mayor Foxx potentially enters the fray here at the eleventh hour, you can be sure that he has already heard, or will be hearing, from multiple industry henchmen that the sky is about to fall for the airlines if these new regulations are allowed to be implemented in the strongest manner intended by Congress.  Hopefully, he follows the lead of his predecessor Secretary LaHood and puts safety first, ensuring that passengers on regional airlines receive the most highly-qualified and well-trained crew possible.  If only Colgan/Pinnacle/Continental/United would have done the same for Lorin.”     The two rules under consideration are the ‘Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements’ rulemaking, as well as the ‘Qualification, Service, and Use of Crewmembers and Aircraft Dispatchers’ rulemaking.  The former, which will significantly enhance both the qualitative and quantitative requirements for a First Officer to be hired by a regional airline, is currently at OMB, and must be published by August 1st.  The latter, which will provide a much-needed update to the FAA’s requirements on how regional airlines train their pilots, is now 20 months overdue, and targeted for completion by October 21st.  It is still at FAA, and is scheduled to be sent to DOT on June 3rd.   “In light of the extensive delays that have already occurred with these rulemakings, this is certainly not the ideal time for transition to be occurring at DOT,” stated Karen Eckert of Williamsville, New York, who lost her sister and prominent 9/11 widow and activist Beverly Eckert.  “The objectives of FAA and DOT have historically been muddled by the so-called ‘dual mandate’ of regulating safety while at the same time promoting the growth of the aviation industry in the United States.  Safety costs money, and there is always going to be some industry resistance when it comes to implementing stronger safety regulations, in this case geared towards the regional airline industry.

Hopefully Mayor Foxx is able to grasp the significant gap that still exists in our quest for a true ‘One Level of Safety’ between our nation’s mainline and regional carriers, and provide true leadership in seeing both of these rulemakings completed in not only a timely, but also the strongest, manner possible.”   Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Mayor Foxx will he held at 2:30 p.m. in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building, the hearing room for the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.  It will be led by Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Ranking Member Sen. John Thune (R-SD).

The ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’ group was immediately organized after the crash as a support network and an activist group to work on aviation safety reform.  Visit the group’s website or follow them on twitter @3407Families learn more about their efforts.

Contact:      Takla Boujaoude                    takla.3407@gmail.com                     716-907-2425

Tags: Blog by Jillian Gustafson
Comments Off on Flight 3407 Families to Attend Foxx’s Senate Confirmation Hearing on Wednesday

May 20, 2013

To: TSA Administrator John Pistole, Washington, DC

From: 9/11 widow Rebecca Marchand, Phoenix, Arizona

Dear Administrator Pistole:

As you know, I was widowed on 9/11 when my husband, United Airlines Flight Attendant Alfred Marchand, was murdered by terrorists using box cutters to slash the throats of flight attendants. Today my 27-year old son is a flight attendant. After repeatedly asking for an invitation to a TSA briefing on your decision to allow knives back on flights, I am outraged at the excuses I have been given. I have the right to comment on this issue. You are ignoring many stakeholders who have a right to be heard and I will not go away without being allowed to comment face-ta-face on this change.

You took a solemn oath to secure not only aircraft but also the passengers and crew aboard. From the start, you mishandled the knives proposal by failing to get input from airlines, flight crews, your own employees or anyone else but your inner circle. The announcement was a complete surprise to the aviation community and a huge blow to 9/11 families. I am sickened by your approach. It’s possible this is the way you did business at the FBI, but it is utterly inappropriate in the job you now hold involving so many important stakeholders.

TSA has repeatedly claimed that allowing knives on passenger flights follows an international standard when in fact there is no international standard. The USA should be the leader in aviation security. We were the ones attacked by terrorists with box cutters. After the Boston bombings, TSA delayed implementation ostensibly to get “more input.” We now know you never intended to seek input from the “public.” I believe the delay was used as a way to distance the knife policy from the bombings and quiet the TSA’s critics. But I will not be silenced or stand by and let the TSA put passengers and crew members at risk the way the US government failed nearly 3,000 people on 9/11.

I request that you schedule a briefing open to all 9/11 family members who wish to attend and to seriously consider their input. You, Sir, still get to go home to your wife every night. It has been almost 12 years since I lost the chance to ever see my husband again. The 9/11 families’ loved ones were stolen from us by men using box cutter blades smaller than the knives you now want to allow on planes. I look forward to your prompt emailed response to my request.

Tags: Blog by Jillian Gustafson
Comments Off on Harsh Words For (and a Request To) TSA Administrator Pistole

Flight 3407 Families to DOT Nominee Foxx: “Safety Must Be Top Priority”

Buffalo, New York- May 1, 2013

The ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’ issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s nomination of Anthony Foxx to be the next Transportation Secretary:

“As numerous entities weigh in on Mayor Foxx’s nomination in terms of the ability of his cabinet seat to influence jobs and the economy in the transportation sector, our group serves as a reminder that economic-driven shortcuts employed by some regional airlines can have disastrous consequences.  While we are all for promoting the economy, we learned the hard way what can happen when the airlines are allowed to run roughshod over the FAA, owing to a laissez-faire approach to the industry by the White House in the years leading up to February 12, 2009.

“Looking back on the last four years since this needless tragedy, we applaud Secretary LaHood’s continued prioritization of safety across all modes of transportation, in particular his success in steering through landmark new flight and duty time guidelines which will greatly improve the plight of regional airline pilots.  The next six months are a critical period for DOT and FAA in terms of achieving full implementation of the 2010 Airline Safety Act, and this transition at the top of the Department of Transportation cannot be allowed to cause any further delay to key rulemakings on pilot qualifications and crewmember training.   “We look forward to following Mayor Foxx’s Senate confirmation process closely, and learning more about his positions on key transportation safety issues.”

The ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’ group was immediately organized after the crash as a support network and an activist group to work on aviation safety reform.  Visit the group’s website or follow them on twitter @3407Families learn more about their efforts.
Contact:      Takla Boujaoude                    takla.3407@gmail.com                     716-907-2425

Tags: Blog by Jillian Gustafson
Comments Off on Flight 3407 Families to DOT Nominee Foxx: “Safety Must Be Top Priority”