The Nation : Senate Panel Supports Independent FAA

A measure making the Federal Aviation Administration an independent agency, a change designed to make the government more responsive to aviation industry problems, was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Wendell H. Ford (D-Ky.), chairman of the Senate aviation subcommittee, was sent to the full chamber by a 14-4 vote. Its chances of passage by the Senate appear strong because Ford gathered 57 co-sponsors. But prospects of passage in the House seem weaker. The bill would pull the FAA out of the Department of Transportation, where it has been since the department was created in 1966. Ford has argued that the Transportation Department, heeding the Administration’s efforts to cut spending, has restrained the FAA from aggressively embarking on various programs.