May 17, 2025
Mr. Larsen of Washington (for himself and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to require certain air carriers to develop and regularly update an operational resiliency strategy, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Ensuring Airline Resiliency to Reduce Delays and Cancellations Act
.
Sec. 2. Airline operational resiliency plans
(a) In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall require a covered carrier to develop and regularly update an operational resiliency strategy to prevent or limit the impact of future flight disruptions on passengers.
(b) Operational resiliency strategy
In each operational resiliency strategy developed under subsection (a), a covered carrier shall include a description of—
(1)
the potential impact of severe weather and other reasonably anticipated disruptive events on the operations of the carrier and how the carrier seeks to prevent or limit the impact of such events on passengers;
(2)
the potential impact of severe weather events and other reasonably anticipated disruptive events on—
(A)
staffing models, including the ability of such models to ensure the workforce is able to adequately respond to such events and reschedule passengers, flight crews, operations staff, and other appropriate personnel; and
(B)
the current information and technology systems of the carrier, including crew scheduling systems, and the preparedness of such systems to continue operations after such an event or disruption;
(3)
the preparedness of the carrier to maintain operations and limit or prevent the impact of other potential disruptive events identified by the carrier;
(4)
the extent to which the carrier addresses known cybersecurity risks and information technology deficiencies and vulnerabilities to prevent potential flight disruptions; and
(5)
any other issues the Secretary determines appropriate to protect consumers and maintain the operational stability of the airline industry.
(c) Proprietary information
The Secretary shall develop a method to protect the confidentiality of any trade secret or proprietary information submitted in an operational resiliency strategy under subsection (b).
(d) Evaluation
(1) Audit
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate an audit to evaluate the effectiveness of the operational resiliency strategies developed under this section by covered air carriers.
(2) Stakeholder feedback
Upon completion of the audit under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall solicit responses from the covered carriers regarding the findings of the audit and include any such responses in the report in paragraph (3).
(3) Report
Not later than 1 year after completion of the audit conducted under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the findings of the audit.
(e) Rule of construction
Nothing in this section shall be construed to—
(1)
grant additional authority to the Secretary beyond the authority to require a covered air carrier to develop or update an operational resiliency strategy in accordance with this Act; or
(2)
prevent the Secretary from assessing an operational resiliency strategy and providing guidance and technical assistance to a covered carrier in developing and updating such a strategy required under this Act.
(f) Covered carrier
In this section, the term covered carrier has the meaning given such term in section 259.3 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations).