SUMMER TRAVEL SURGE: Summer travel has arrived. And the thousands of flights and millions of passengers anticipated this season bring inherent risks that could test the system — especially after last year’s near-collisions at airports marked new highs, Oriana reports. Crunching the numbers: Last year marked a new record of 11 near-collisions involving commercial planes — more than double the number seen in 2022. There hasn’t been the same pace of near-catastrophic or serious incidents so far this year, but air travel is expected to boom, leaving more room for errors to occur. “With the summer high-demand travel season stretching the safety seams, it will be critically important to just slow down,” said Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines pilot and spokesperson for its pilots union, the Allied Pilots Association. “Every pilot, air traffic controller, mechanic, airline and the FAA need to slow down and take a minute for safety.” And Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who chairs the Senate Commerce panel overseeing aviation, said the summer boom is “something we have to keep our eyes on and I am concerned about it.” Where it’s trending: At least two serious incidents which made headlines occurred in April: one in New York and one in Washington, D.C. But the FAA has yet to classify the events in its internal system that tracks runway incursions,and could only provide data through March of this year — meaning there could be more once the FAA is done investigating any incidents. FAA offered in a statement that the agency and aviation industry are pursuing a “goal of zero serious close calls.” Oriana breaks it all down here. SO WHO HAS TO PAY? While President Joe Biden has committed to rebuild Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge with 100 percent federal dollars, some Republicans aren’t sold on that idea. Crucial to interstate commerce: The bridge is an arterial road over the Patapsco River into the city, and its partially closed port has large domestic and international trade implications. Although there is consensus that it needs to be rebuilt, members are fractured around how the costs should be handled. The skeptics: Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), chair of the House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, said in an interview that the bridge needs to get back up and running, — but he’s concerned about how much of the bill federal taxpayers will foot. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a member of the Transportation Committee, is skeptical of a 100 percent cost share and wants a plan on how the American taxpayer would be paid back. Chris has more. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
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