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Air travel will continue to increase—unless grounded by climate change policies
The Duke of Wellington was said to have opposed the growth of railroads in 19th-century Britain because they would “only encourage the common people to…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Defend your points and miles with Bryan Bashur
In this week’s episode we talk about where our doctors come from in the US, what current inflation numbers tell us about…
Blog
Congress is set to reauthorize the FAA. Should it?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2018 expires at the end of September. This week, Congress will consider H.R. 3935 (118). If…
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Daily Caller
Lawsuit May Reverse Ban On Vaping E-Cigarettes On Flights
The Daily Caller discusses CEI's lawsuit against the Department of Transportation's rule prohibiting electronic cigarettes on planes with Marc Scribner. The Competitive Enterprise…
Politico
In budget fight, appropriators eye long TSA wait times
Politico's Morning Transportation discusses CEI's lawsuit against the TSA's body scanner rule and quotes Marc Scribner on the case. COMING TODAY: The Competitive…
The Hill
E-cigarette ban on flights being challenged in lawsuit
The Hill reports on CEI's lawsuit against the Department of Transportation's rule banning electronic cigarettes on aircraft. A Department of Transportation (DOT) rule…
Blog
CEI Challenges Illegal “Vapes on a Plane” Regulation
Today, CEI, the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA), and CEI employee Gordon Cummings, as a private individual, filed a lawsuit challenging the…
Blog
Air Traffic Control Reforms Will Give Us Modern Technology, Not Union Giveaways
Guest Post by David Grizzle Former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Counsel, FAA As the former chief operating officer and chief counsel at the…
Blog
Senate FAA Bill Betrays Free Market and Fiscally Conservative Principles
Last month, I wrote about why everyone should be disappointed by the Senate’s FAA reauthorization bill: it fails to include key air traffic control reforms contained…
Law360
Alaska Air, Virgin America Face Bumpy Antitrust Ride
CEI Fellow Marc Scribner speaks to Law360 about a proposed merger between Alaska Air and Virgin America: “If you look at their…
Blog
No, the AIRR Act’s Air Traffic Control Reforms Do Not Grant Controllers Strike Powers
Capital Research Center, a conservative policy group in Washington, D.C., recently published an extended essay, “PATCO’s Revenge: Capitol Hill cronyism may give the air…
Blog
Senate FAA Reauthorization Bill Disappoints
This morning, the Senate Commerce Committee held a markup hearing on their Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016 (S. 2658). A couple of positive…
Blog
Beware of Misleading CBO Score of the AIRR Act
The AIRR Act (H.R. 4441), the FAA reauthorization bill in the House, contains badly needed reforms of U.S. air traffic control. See my FAQ on what…
Blog
Is Conservative Opposition to the Passenger Facility Charge Softening?
CEI is a strong supporter of transportation user fees. We prefer tolls over fuel taxes, and local airport user fees over tax-funded federal…
Politico
House and Senate may soon settle on 3-month FAA extension
Politico's Morning Transportation quotes Marc Scribner on the Department of Transportation's ban of e-cigarettes on all U.S. commercial flights. ‘Vapes on a plane’…
Blog
Up in the AIRR, Part 2: Unmanned Aircraft Systems
To date, CEI’s analysis of the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act (H.R. 4441) has largely focused on proposed air traffic control reforms, which CEI…
Blog
Up in the AIRR, Part 1: Passenger Facility Charge Modernization
To date, CEI’s analysis of the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act (H.R. 4441) has focused on proposed air traffic control reforms, which CEI strongly…
Politico
Politico Morning Transporation: Transpo unions eye post-Scalia SCOTUS decision
Politico's Morning Transportation mentions CEI's rebuttal to the New York Times article against privitatizing air traffic control. The New York Times editorial board…
Blog
NYT Editorial Board Repeats Falsehoods on Air Traffic Control Reform
The New York Times editorial board has staked out a position on proposed air traffic control reform legislation, and it doesn’t like it. To anyone…
Blog
House Committee Narrowly Approves Eleanor Holmes Norton’s Deadly E-Cigarette Science Denialism
Following three government reports in the 1980s highlighting the low cabin air quality caused by cigarette smoking and the health risks of passive smoke,…
The Hill
Panel votes to ban e-cigarettes on flights
The Hill quotes Marc Scribner on the proposal to ban e-cigarettes on flights which was attached to the funding bill for the FAA. Conservative…
The Hill
Congress pressured to ditch cap on passenger fees for airports
The Hill reports on a coalition letter CEI signed which urges Congress to eliminate a cap on passenger fees for airports. Libertarian and good-government groups…
The Hill
Conservatives rally behind independent air traffic control plan
The Hill reports on a coalition letter CEI signed in support of seperating the nation's air traffic control system from the FAA. Conservative…
The Washington Post
Disney loved its no-fly zone — until it wanted to fly its own drones
The Washington Post reports Disney's request to gain an exemption to Temporary Flight Restrictions above Disneyland and Disney World in order to fly drones over the…
Politico
More Idignant Missives
Politico mentions CEI's stance on the FAA drone registry rules in the morning transportation update. The Competitive Enterprise Institute writes to the Federal…
Comment
CEI Comments to the Federal Aviation Administration regarding Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft
Full Document Available in PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), we respectfully submit these comments in response to the…
Letters
Coalition Letter on the Unlawful TSA Screening of Airline Passengers
Full Document Available in PDF Dear Chairman Chaffetz and Ranking Member Cummings: We are writing to you regarding the TSA’s recent claim…
Blog
2016 Regulatory Schedule for the U.S. Department of Transportation
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration’s two drone rulemakings got a lot of attention: their strange attempt to implement Congress’s airspace integration mandate and their unlawful…
Blog
FAA Releases Mandatory Drone Registration Interim Final Rule
On December 16, the FAA will publish its interim final rule (IFR) on Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft in the Federal…
Blog
Problems with Mandatory Drone Registration
On Saturday, the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Registration Task Force issued its recommendations on a mandatory UAS registration proposal. The report is available here. On…
Blog
Government Submits TSA Body Scanner Final Rule Schedule to Court
On October 23, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the Department of Homeland Security to produce a schedule for final rule…
Law360
TSA Ordered To Make Final Body Scanner Rule
The D.C. Circuit on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to submit a schedule for when it will issue a final rule on…
Blog
Court Rules against Government in TSA Body Scanner Case
Earlier today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against the government in CEI’s challenge to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) illegal…
Blog
Is a Drone Registration Mandate Illegal?
Today, the Department of Transportation announced the creation of a task force to develop recommendations for a national drone registration mandate. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx stated…
Blog
Drone Policy Update: FAA Proposes $1.9m Fine, 3 More Bills Vetoed in California, and More
FAA PROPOSES RECORD FINE FOR UNAUTHORIZED UAS OPERATIONS: On October 6, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it was proposing a $1.9 million civil penalty against…
Blog
Drone Policy Update: California Bill Vetoed, New Model Aircraft Guidance, and More
CALIFORNIA UAS BILL VETOED: On September 9, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 142 that would have imposed trespass liability on unmanned aircraft system (UAS)…
Blog
Did North Dakota Just Authorize Pepper-Spraying Police Drones?
The Daily Beast’s Justin Glawe has written an article about a North Dakota law aimed at limiting law enforcement use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or…
Blog
“Flypocalypse” Shows Air Traffic Control Too Important to Be Left to FAA
This past Saturday, hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled due to an air traffic control software glitch in the Washington, D.C. area. Naturally, #flypocalypse began…
The Heartlander
House Transportation Chairman Proposes Privatizing Air Traffic Control
The Heartlander cites CEI`s Marc Scribner on privatisation of air traffic control: Marc Scribner, a transportation policy research fellow with the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
CEI Sues TSA for Violating Federal Law and Court Order on Body Scanners
Yesterday, July 15, 2015, CEI filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Our suit requests the court enforce its…
FoxNews.com
TSA sued over airport body scanners
Marc Scribner is quoted in a report on a lawsuit filed by CEI over the deployment of body scanners in airports: “There is…
Forbes
U.S. Airlines Face Antitrust Collusion Investigation–What’s The Big Deal?
Airlines, apparently including United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines…
The Hill
Tax cuts and reform for air travelers
The Hill quotes CEI`s Marc Scribner on the Passenger Facility Charge: The Congress Blog has hosted two well thought out pieces on the…
The Hill
The conservative case for a modernized Passenger Facility Charge
Recently in these pages, Grover Norquist, president of the venerable Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), argued that modernizing the airport Passenger Facility Charge (PFC)…
Blog
New Tax Foundation Report Endorses PFC Modernization
The Tax Foundation today released a new report, “Improving Airport Funding to Meet the Needs of Passengers.” Authored by Tax Foundation economist Alan Cole, the…
Blog
ERAM Deployed Five Years Late, NRC Blasts FAA on NextGen Delays
We saw two announcements on air traffic control modernization last week. The first was that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had finally completed its En Route…
Blog
CEI Submits Comments to FAA on Small Drone Certification and Operations Proposed Rules
Today, I submitted comments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of CEI on its notice of proposed rulemaking for small unmanned…
Blog
Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform Are Wrong about Passenger Facility Charge
I saw some unfortunate news today: Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform sent a letter to Congress opposing a possible increase in the cap of the…
Blog
Vapes on a Plane: More on Why DOT’s Proposed In-Flight E-Cigarette Ban Is Fatally Flawed
Over at CNN.com, I have a piece arguing against the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) forthcoming rule aimed at outlawing “vapes on a plane.” I explain why…
Blog
What the U.S. Can Learn from Canada on Aviation Innovation
As I continue to digest the sUAS NPRM, which is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, I came across Canadian drone attorney Diana…
Blog
First Thoughts on FAA’s Small Unmanned Aircraft System Proposed Rules
At 10am on Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced its draft rules to govern small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The announcement is not particularly surprising,…
Opportunity Lives
Why America Needs to Get Smarter about Our Commercial Drone Policy
Marc Scribner talks to Opportunity Lives about the failings of current commercial drone policy: Marc Scribner, a fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Congress Needs to Act to Bring about a Drone Revolution
Earlier this morning, a full panel of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) overturned a previous ruling from an NTSB administrative law judge in the Pirker case. In Pirker, the…