The approval of Michael Whitaker, former deputy FAA administrator, ends a span of nearly 19 months in which the agency was without a Senate-confirmed chief.
The Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the nomination of Michael Whitaker to head the FAA, at a time when aviation experts say the U.S. air travel system shows mounting signs of stress.
The GAO also said airlines are taking longer to recover from disruptions like storms. It said surges in cancellations in late 2021 and early 2022 lasted longer than they did before the pandemic.
The acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration will leave the agency this summer, putting pressure on the White House to quickly find a replacement.
President Joe Biden's choice to run the Federal Aviation Administration has withdrawn his nomination, a setback for the administration that comes after he appeared to lack enough Senate support.
Departures across the U.S. were halted for two hours Wednesday morning after the FAA's system for alerting pilots and airports of real-time hazards went dark, frustrating thousands of travelers.
One of the passengers struck a flight attendant on the head and tried to open a cabin door. In a separate incident, a passenger tried to open a cabin door during a flight and bit another passenger.
Safety regulators have twice halted deliveries of new 787s after finding production flaws and will now conduct final inspections themselves instead of delegating that authority to Boeing
The FAA says Verizon and AT&T can turn on more 5G cell phone towers as safety concerns over interference with planes eases. But some smaller regional jets still face restrictions.
The inspector general for the Transportation Department says U.S. regulators must address oversight failures that led to two deadly Boeing 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.