The acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Billy Nolen, will testify before the US Senate Commerce Committee on February 15th to discuss the January 11th computer system outage that disrupted more than 11,000 US flights.
The incident occurred when contract personnel "unintentionally deleted files," and halted outgoing flights for two hours.
The FAA has implemented a change in the system to prevent future issues.
Nolen has acted as administrator since April 1st.
The acting head of the FAA, Billy Nolen, will testify before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on February 15th, regarding the January 11th computer system outage that impacted 11,000 flights within the US. Following the incident, the FAA has implemented a change in the system to prevent future issues arising.
However, the FAA has not officially commented on the matter.
Next, President Biden harshly criticised U.S. airlines, accusing them of charging families unfair fees and vowed to implement new consumer protections.
Biden announced that "We'll prohibit airlines from charging $50 round trip for families just to be able to sit together," at his State of the Union address.
Following this announcement, Airlines for America, a group representing various airlines, including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, said its member carriers do not charge fees for passengers travelling together.
A spokeswoman said the airlines "make every effort to accommodate customers traveling together - especially those traveling with children."
These two events reflect different challenges that the aviation industry is currently dealing with.
On one hand, the FAA is grappling with outdated technological systems, currently being managed by an acting head.
On the other hand, airlines are dealing with public criticism for potentially discriminatory practices, despite their claims of making "every effort" to accommodate their passengers, and a call from President Biden to implement new protections for passengers.