Bipartisan, bicameral legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) to improve the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system that provides pilots with safety alerts during flights became law on June 3 with the president’s signature.
“I am pleased that the NOTAM Improvement Act has been signed into law by the president,” Rep. Stauber said. “This bill is critical to improving the safety of our skies for pilots and passengers by bringing experts from across the air travel industry together to improve the NOTAM system.”
President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law the NOTAM Improvement Act of 2023, H.R. 346, which Rep. Stauber introduced on Jan. 12 with lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), directing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish the FAA Task Force on NOTAM Improvement and requires the FAA to implement a federal NOTAM system, according to the congressional record bill summary.
Specifically, the task force must review existing methods for publishing NOTAMs and flight operations information for pilots; review regulations, policies, systems, and international standards relating to NOTAMs, including their content and presentation to pilots; evaluate and determine best practices to organize, prioritize, and present flight operations information in a manner that optimizes pilot review and retention of relevant information; provide recommendations to improve the publication and delivery of NOTAM information; and report to Congress on its reviews and evaluations, the summary says.
“We must avoid another system crash like the one in January that grounded all domestic air traffic for the first time since 9/11, and this bill is a crucial first step,” said Rep. Stauber.
U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Jan. 25 introduced their chamber’s version, the identical S. 66.
“By upgrading and modernizing the FAA’s NOTAM system, this new law will improve aviation safety and prevent system outages from derailing travel,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “Travelers in the United States deserve safe and dependable air travel service, not nationwide ground stops caused by system failures like we saw earlier this year.”