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Opening remarks, as prepared, of Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Troy E. Nehls (R-TX) from today’s hearing entitled, “FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024: Stakeholder Perspectives on Implementation One Year Later”:

May 16, 2025, marked the one-year anniversary of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 being signed into law. Crafting this legislation was a monumental task that took place over the course of two years and involved over 2,100 stakeholder and Member requests. Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Graves, the largest and most comprehensive FAA reauthorization act was signed in to law.

This legislation touched every major sector of the aviation industry and included provisions to ensure that the United States remains the global leader in aviation.

Specifically, the law maintains aviation safety as the FAA’s number one priority; contains the first ever general aviation title to strengthen America’s general aviation sector; addresses workforce development challenges for qualified workers, including pilots, mechanics, and air traffic controllers; invests in our country’s airport infrastructure by expediting project deliveries and prioritizing investments for small and general aviation airports; ensures the safe and efficient integration of new technologies, such as drones and advanced air mobility; and provides necessary reforms to enhance the passenger experience for the travelling public.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 included over 500 mandates for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to implement over the course of five years. I am eager to hear from our witnesses today about the progress that has, or has not, been made in implementing the law.

Today, we have representatives of a broad cross section of aviation stakeholders, including general aviation, new entrants, and commercial airlines. It is critical that we hear from all of them as we work to ensure that this law is implemented as Congress intended.

I want to acknowledge up front that implementing a law of this scale is no small task. It requires coordination, persistence, and a unified effort across government and industry. That said, history tells us that the relevant agencies have often struggled to meet such a challenge. In fact, numerous provisions from the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, and even some policy directives from the 2016 FAA extension, have yet to be implemented to this day.

While the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 was comprehensive, ambitious, and challenging, it set an achievable timeline for implementation and reform.

Our reputation as a world leader in aviation is on the line, but I am extremely confident that the Trump Administration will get this right. I look forward to partnering with both the President and Secretary Duffy to protect and maintain that hard-earned reputation.

And while progress has been made on the implementation of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, several important provisions have been delayed, such as section 372, the establishment of an Enhanced Qualification Program (EQP) for restricted airline transport pilot (ATP)  certificates that utilizes best-in-class simulator technology to ensure that we have the best trained and safest pilots in the world; section 930, a rulemaking that will allow for scaled, safe beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in United States airspace; and section 1110, a report that provides an update on the creation of federal and international policies that would establish the United States as a global leader in civil supersonic aircraft.

It is essential that this subcommittee, along with the broader aviation community, hold the DOT and FAA accountable to achieve the goals set forth in our legislation.

I want to thank our witnesses for being here today, and I look forward to working with each of you to ensure this pivotal law gets implemented on time and as intended.

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