Subject: POLITICO's Morning Transportation, presented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International: TSA backtracks on proposal for post-flight screening — Airport security bill heads to the House — NTSB on Alaska TV show: It’s documentary, not reality TV
From: Morning Transportation <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2016 08:03:15 -0600

By Martine Powers | 04/25/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With help from Heather Caygle, Lauren Gardner, and Jennifer Scholtes

TSA BACKTRACKS ON PROPOSAL FOR POST-FLIGHT SCREENING: Our Heather Caygle has an inside look at Congress' efforts to quietly quash a TSA program that would have allowed the agency to wait until after passengers land at their destination to screen them for weapons. Sound too crazy to be true? Heather has the details: "TSA's latest effort to make air travel more efficient would have let passengers board flights at some small airports without being screened for threats like guns or explosives. ... 

" ... Supporters of the TSA plan say the risks would be limited: The smaller airports get relatively little air traffic, and the regional planes in question would be far smaller than the hijacked jumbo jets that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. But lawmakers criticized the idea as an invitation for terrorists to bring bombs or other weapons on board - something they called an unacceptable risk. They expressed astonishment that the TSA would even propose such a strategy."

Lawmakers weigh in: TSA, which has offered few details about the proposal, apparently backed down after Congress caught wind of the plan. The agency declined to comment on how many airports it would have affected, and what prompted the agency's change of course. "From a security standpoint, it makes no sense," said Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.). Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, and House Transportation ranking member Peter DeFazio also portrayed the idea as harebrained. Members of Congress say TSA's strategy would have affected at least six airports, and some sources say it could have been as many as 22.

Heather also checked in with some of the regional airports that would have been affected by TSA's proposal. At one small airport in Klamath Falls, Ore., where commercial service ceased to operate two years ago, an air carrier had recently agreed to begin providing service - but only if TSA would start staffing the airport. The director of that airport "said the TSA has rebuffed repeated requests over the last several months to resume screening at the airport - until Congress got involved," Heather reports.

IT'S MONDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.

A warm MT welcome to Jennifer Scholtes, who's back on the beat starting today. And another greeting to Charlie, Heather Caygle's newly adopted pup, who is part yellow lab and part hound, which means he's got lots of adorable brown speckles. "He's like an easter egg or something," Heather reports. Here's a pic: bit.ly/1MRJjCR. Reach out: [email-masked] or @martinepowers.

"We treat mishaps like sinking ships and / I know that I don't want to be out to drift."

THIS WEEK:

Tuesday: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration holds meetings to develop evidence based guidelines for fatigue management in the Emergency Medical Services community. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee holds a hearing on "Terror in Europe: Implications of ISIS's Western External Operations."

Wednesday: The Senate Commerce Committee holds a markup of the Maritime Administration Authorization and Enhancement Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The FAA holds a meeting of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. The NHTSA holds its second public meeting on "Guidelines for the Safe Deployment of Automated Vehicle Safety Techniques" in Stanford, Calif. The House Public Transportation Caucus holds a briefing on "Realizing the Future of Zero Emission Transit," with representatives from the Chicago Transit Authority and the Center for Transportation & the Environment.

Thursday: The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing on "Criminal Aliens Released by the Department of Homeland Security." The Heritage Foundation holds a panel discussion on drone regulations, privacy and property concerns, and the role of state and local governments in drone oversight. 

Friday: The Washington Space Business Roundtable will hold a discussion on France's strategy for innovation in space.

COMING TO A HOUSE NEAR YOU: The House is expected to vote on Tuesday to approve a bill under a fast-track voting method that would beef up security at airports with direct flights into the U.S. - often called "last point of departure." When we asked Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson about the bill's progress late last week, here's what he said: "We have a term in the South that says 'almost, nearly about.'"

Fine-tuning: The House Homeland Security Committee approved the bill during a markup March 23. But Thompson tells us lawmakers have been working on a bipartisan agreement the past two weeks to tweak the language to include some other provisions that were tucked into the Senate's FAA bill.

BUSY TIMES, CLOSED TSA LINES: Even as airports are flooded with a record number of travelers, Thompson is worried that lots of TSA screening lines remain closed when aviation hubs are mobbed. So he is calling on TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger to consider revamping the way the agency assigns screeners. Acknowledging that funding is scarce, Thompson suggests the TSA head think about pulling personnel away from doing "behavior detection" (trying to spot suspiciously acting travelers) and instead use those officers to run screening lines. "One recurring complaint I hear from airport officials is current staffing allocation models do not adequately correspond with the airport's needs,"
 Thompson writes to Neffenger.

** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: By proposing to grant Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign carrier permit, Transportation Secretary Foxx is failing to enforce our Open Skies agreement with the European Union, thereby harming tens of thousands of U.S. workers. Secretary Foxx should stand up for U.S. workers and immediately deny NAI's request. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43708a1764095c5dbdecd84ca3d9ed2736a56e550f4cbca9f78cc89871fad06b **

THE SHOW MUST GO ON: After Sen. Lisa Murkowski lambasted the NTSB last week for participating in a television show about Alaskan plane crash investigations, the agency responded. No, they didn't use federal funds on the development of the show, said NTSB spokesman Christopher T. O'Neil.And no, it's not reality TV - it's a documentary series, which the agency argues is well within their purview for educating the public. "The National Transportation Safety Board was created to be transparent regarding the facts in order for the public to be confident that accident investigation conclusions are based upon the facts," O'Neil said in a statement to POLITICO. The production agreement forbade
 production values associated with reality shows that "depict a modified and highly influenced form of reality," O'Neil added.

More on the controversy: From Alaska's KTUU on March 10: " ... Mary Kenshalo, who lost her husband in a plane crash near Sutton two and a half years ago, said she wishes the show's producers had first consulted families affected by aviation tragedies in Alaska. 'We don't want our tragedy played out on camera,' Kenshalo said. ... She feels NTSB investigators don't always get the whole story. 'We just wanted to be included in what was said and what was portrayed,' said Kenshalo. ... The Alaska Travel Industry Association is backing its members who oppose the show, saying its timing could be detrimental to aviation tourism. 'It could really impact visitors' perception when they're making their
 travel arrangements in Alaska,' said Sarah Leonard, CEO and President of ATIA."

HURT FEELINGS: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx stopped off in Norway during a European tour last week, and Norwegian Air CEO Bj&oslash;rn Kjos is harboring some hard feelings that Foxx wasn't up for a meet-and-greet. Earlier this month, the Department of Transportation announced that it was giving a tentative OK to the airline to operate long-haul flights to the United States. But that nod from the DOT didn't translate into warm fuzzy feelings on Scandinavian shores: According to the newspaper Dagens N&aelig;ringsliv (and translated by NewsInEnglish.no), Foxx was the guest of honor at a government conference on sustainable transportation; Kjos waited in the crowd to chat him up, but
 Foxx only offered a quick handshake. "He doesn't have time to meet with us," Kjos told the newspaper.

As for why it took so long for the U.S. to approve Norwegian Air's entreaties to fly to the U.S., Kjos blamed it on the DOT's desire to protect U.S. carriers rather than welcome airlines with a history of environmental friendliness and lower emissions. He said American carriers fly "quite old and inefficient" aircraft, and that "U.S. politicians protect their own airlines." Foxx apparently defended the time it took for DOT to come to a decision, telling the Norwegian newspaper that there were numerous issues that needed to be addressed, and "we have had a very open process."

SINCE U BEEN GONE: Just days after Canadian Pacific delivered an encouraging first-quarter earnings report, Norfolk Southern announced a surprise coup of its own: Net income for the Virginia company was $387 million, 25 percent higher than the same period last year. "Our strong first-quarter results demonstrate the significant progress we are making in line with our strategic plan," said James A. Squires, the company's chairman, president and CEO. "Our focus on strengthening Norfolk Southern is yielding results." Canadian Pacific announced earlier this month that it would abandon long-held plans to merge with Norfolk Southern.

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):

- "Solar-powered Plane Finishes Flight Over Pacific." The Associated Press.

- Airbus gets an unlikely source for financing: The U.S. Export-Import Bank. The Wall Street Journal.

- "Was this the real reason new NJ Transit boss walked away from job?" NJ.com.

- "D.C. Circulator drivers step up fight for wage parity." The Washington Post.

- "Lawyer Takes Aim at Volkswagen in Europe Over Emissions Scandal." The Wall Street Journal.

- BloombergView: "The emissions problem is now more than just a VW scandal."

- "Uber drivers have mixed reactions to $100 million settlement." The Los Angeles Times.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 160 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 82 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 198 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,622 days.

** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: The Department of Transportation's (DOT) order proposing to approve Norwegian Air International's (NAI) request ignores both the terms of our the Open Skies agreement and the will of Congress. NAI's operation as a "flag-of-convenience" carrier in Ireland would allow the airline to skirt Norway's employment laws, give NAI an unfair economic edge, and put tens of thousands of U.S. aviation jobs at risk. 

DOT's decision is at odds with the letter, spirit, and intent of the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement and is opposed by U.S. and EU labor unions, airlines and others. More than 200 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have urged Secretary Foxx to enforce the U.S.-EU agreement and deny the NAI application.

The Obama Administration needs to stand up for fair competition and U.S. jobs and deny NAI a foreign carrier permit. Learn more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43708a1764095c5dbdecd84ca3d9ed2736a56e550f4cbca9f78cc89871fad06b **

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