At the Sept. 15, 2026 House Appropriations THUD Subcommittee FAA oversight hearing, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) asks FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford why air traffic controllers still haven't received the full 3.8% raise Congress funded in P.L. 119-86. Bedford reads the Sec. 548 language giving him "sole discretion" to withhold it.
Sep 15 FAA oversight hearing =>
>Womack: "I personally just don't, I can't wrap my head around time on station or whatever you call it, going down and overtime going higher." Bedford: "Those are the facts, sir."
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>Womack: "Help me understand why I can't wrap my head around that."
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>Bedford: "What? Sure."
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>Womack: "Is it management?"
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>Bedford: "Well, so it may be, but let's talk about that. If we're doing a bad job of managing the workforce, let's figure that out and fix it. So I'm not absolving management here... We absolutely may be the problem. But I'd like to work with our labor partners to figure that out."
If you live in Oklahoma's 4th District;
• Norman
• Lawton
• Ada
• Ardmore
• Duncan
• Chickasha or surrounding areas
Rep. Tom Cole is your congressman, and he chairs House Appropriations. Your message counts more than anyone's.
Contact him here: cole.house.gov/contact/email, or call (202) 225-6165.
Feel free to copy this =>
'Congressman Cole, I'm your constituent in [town]. You've called air traffic controllers "dedicated workers" and written that paying aviation workers "keeps the American people free from harm while flying." I agree. But the FY2026 funding law still withholds 2.8 percentage points of controllers' 3.8% raise under a "sole discretion" condition. Hiring 2,500 new controllers won't fix staffing if we can't keep the ones we have. Please work to release their full raise. Thank you.'
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