Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would require airlines to develop operational resiliency plans that ensure adequate preparedness for future flight disruptions
House Resolution 9135, the Ensuring Airline Resiliency to Reduce Delays and Cancellations Act, would direct the secretary of transportation to require certain air carriers to develop and regularly update an operational resiliency strategy with the goal of preventing and limiting future travel disruptions and protecting passengers from schedule changes.
Rick Larsen (D-WA), House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure ranking member, introduced the bill, and Steve Cohen (D-TN) Subcommittee on Aviation ranking member, co-sponsored.
“Last week’s technology meltdown left thousands of flights cancelled and thousands more families and travelers stranded at airports across the country,” Larsen said. “The flying public deserves a safe, smooth, and worry-free travel experience, and the airlines were unable to provide that. By requiring airlines to enhance their operational resiliency plans, this legislation ensures airlines will be thinking ahead and better prepared for future large-scale disruptions like last week’s outage. The airlines can and must do better.”
The resolution was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. It is in response to the CrowdStrike global outage experienced during the third week of July.