WASHINGTON – Rep. Nick Langworthy surprised the airline industry in his first year in Congress by leading a bipartisan effort that preserved a key aviation safety reform stemming from the 2009 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 – and now he’s pushing aviation safety one step further.
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Rep. Nick Langworthy speaks last Feb. 12 during the 15th anniversary of the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Clarence Center. Langworthy has introduced a bill that aims to bolster charter airline safety.
Langworthy, a conservative Republican who represents outlying parts of Erie County as well as the Southern Tier, recently introduced a bipartisan bill that aims to bolster the screening of passengers for the growing airline charter industry. Called the Safer Skies Act, the bill immediately won the support of airline unions and 11 other House members from both parties, including several liberal Democrats who rarely team with the likes of Langworthy.
The effort stems from Langworthy’s work as the chairman of the House Aviation Safety Caucus, which he came to lead shortly after joining the House. He said that in that role, he’s been working with the airline industry and government experts to identify potential safety loopholes.
One that stood out, he said, is the fact that passengers on charter flights don’t have to go through the same Transportation Security Administration screening as passengers on commercial flights do. Yet charter airlines increasingly offer passenger services that resemble regular commercial flights out of smaller airports that have been abandoned by the major carriers.
“The Safer Skies Act will close a loophole that has allowed certain operators, like ticketed charter flights, to bypass the rigorous screening requirements that ensure the safety of all passengers,” Langworthy said. “It is vital for protecting our skies and the lives of passengers and crew alike.”
The bill’s lead Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas, agreed.
“I am troubled that a growing number of public charter flight operators are trying to skirt TSA’s security standards,” said Veasey, adding that the bill “underscores strong security standards and will hold those accountable who do not abide by those standards.”
The bill would force the TSA to impose security screening requirements for charter airlines that offer individual seats in advance based on publicly available schedules. Such charter flights with more than nine passenger seats would be subject to the same sort of security screening as regular commercial airlines.
That’s a common-sense move, said Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who famously guided a damaged American Airlines jet to a safe landing on the Hudson River only a few weeks before the Flight 3407 crash.
“The Safer Skies Act will close security loopholes that public charter operators often exploit,” Sullenberger said on X. “All carriers must operate with one level of safety for everyone who flies.”
Several lawmakers from both parties apparently agree. Democrats backing Langworthy’s bill include Reps. Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan and Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C. Republican cosponsors include three of Langworthy’s fellow New Yorkers: Rep. Mike Lawler of the Hudson Valley and Reps. Anthony D’Esposito and Andrew Garbarino of Long Island.
Several unions representing pilots and flight attendants endorsed the bill as well.
“Airline passengers should be able to board a plane and trust that they have the same level of safety and security whether they are flying into a big city or a small town,” said Capt. Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association. “Loopholes, and the abuse of current rules and regulations, undermine a system that has made U.S. commercial aviation the safest in the world.”
Langworthy announced his effort two months after the Federal Aviation Administration said it was exploring the possibility of making charter airlines comply with the same safety rules that commercial airlines must follow.
“Part of the safety mission of the FAA is identifying risk early on, and that’s exactly what we’re doing on public charters as usage expands,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said at the time. “If a company is effectively operating as a scheduled airline, the FAA needs to determine whether those operations should follow the same stringent rules as scheduled airlines.”
The Families of Continental Flight 3407 won a yearlong battle for commercial aviation safety legislation after that 2009 crash, which claimed 50 lives and which regulators blamed on pilot error. And while that legislation did not at all address the charter industry, which operates under separate and sometimes looser federal regulations, a key member of the families group lauded Langworthy for extending his aviation safety efforts to the air charter industry.
“He recognizes it’s a security breach” to allow charter flights to operate without TSA agents screening their passengers, said Karen Eckert, who lost her sister, Beverly Eckert, in the Flight 3407 crash. “We’re all for requiring that passengers on all airlines that offer the same sort of service have the same screening. Otherwise, it’s a huge loophole.”
Beverly Eckert’s husband, Sean Rooney, died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Beverly Eckert co-founded Voices for September 11th, which advocated on behalf of the families of the attacks’ victims.
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