Airlines back more spending, staff to fix failed FAA system
Airline executives are pushing Congress and the White House to step up funding for the Federal Aviation Administration after a technology failure briefly grounded flights around the country this week DALLAS -- Airline executives bristled last year when government officials, led by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, blamed the carriers for causing thousands of flight cancellations and mistreating their customers. The shoe is on the other foot now after a technology outage at the Federal Aviation Administration grounded planes for a time earlier this week, but airline leaders are taking a different tack. They've avoided harsh words and score-settling. Instead they're calling on Congress and the Biden administration to give the FAA more staff and more money to upgrade its systems. “The FAA, I know, is doing the very best they can with what they have, but we need to stand behind the FAA,” Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said Friday. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom praised t...