US TRANSPORTATION Secretary Federico Pena is to recommend that US President Clinton veto a measure that would take the US Federal Aviation Administration out of Department of Transportation control.
The pending FAA Reform Bill before the House of Representatives would establish the FAA as an independent agency governed by an oversight board. Pena says that the structure "...will not only diffuse accountability in administrating the FAA's programmes, but create unnecessary impediments to timely and effective safety responses". He says that the measure "...works against the development of a co-ordinated transportation system."
The Clinton Administration had unsuccessfully urged the US Congress to create a quasi-government agency which would operate the air-traffic-control system. More recently, it threw its support behind another measure proposed by Senator John McCain allowing the FAA to better manage its services and resources through a fee-based system of financing.
Source: Flight International
