More than a week after a brief loss of communications between air traffic controllers and planes over Colorado, Colorado’s federal lawmakers are still seeking answers.
“It just pisses me off,” said Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper, who sits on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, which has oversight over the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA hasn’t been able to answer basic questions about a transmitter outage that left airplane pilots cut off from FAA controllers at a facility in Longmont.
“When did it happen? Why did it happen? How long was it, was there any danger?” Hickenlooper rattled off things he’s still waiting to learn. He believes air travel is safe, “but that doesn't mean we don't have to address this and have a sense of urgency about why won't the FAA tell us what happened.”
He’s not alone. He and other Democrats in Colorado’s delegation signed on to a letter led by Rep. Joe Neguse to Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“The Department needs to take immediate action to address the aging infrastructure and low staffing levels at air traffic control towers,” wrote Neguse, Hickenlooper, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Diana DeGette. “Additionally, the Department must restore the FAA personnel that DOGE terminated earlier this year – it is clear that adequate staffing at the FAA is critical to ensuring safety.”
Colorado Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd was also shocked to learn about the lost communications. “Very concerning, this is a safety issue.”
The freshman representative from Grand Junction sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee, which also has oversight over the FAA.
Federal aviation officials testified in front of the committee the day after the news of the Denver outage broke, giving Hurd the chance to ask, why is the infrastructure so old?
Hurd said part of the answer he got is that people don’t want to change it because they’re comfortable with what they have.
“And I think there's maybe a need for us to push and make sure that the technology that we have is what's needed, because what's in there right now is not adequate,” Hurd said.
He noted the Republican budget reconciliation bill has billions for FAA infrastructure, such as upgraded radios, radar towers and communications. Passage of that bill could take time, but he’s reluctant to see the House pull that element out and vote on it faster because it could jeopardize the rest of the controversial package.
Still, Hurd said he knows the problem needs to be addressed. “One more blackout is already four blackouts too many because we've seen both in the news here in Washington, Newark, now Denver, that this is a serious problem.”
Hickenlooper is also willing to wait — at least a little longer — for official answers. He sent a separate letter to the FAA seeking answers.
But he’s not willing to wait months for their response, because that could delay any fix.
“Have they got plans? Have they got a budget ready? What's our timeline for this? And then I'm happy to put together a group of senators and let's go address it,” he said.
Funding for public media is at stake. Stand up and support what you value today.
