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Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19261231: The first Air Commerce Regulations of the Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce, became effective. Promulgated under provisions of the Air Commerce Act of 1926, these regulations resulted from many conferences between the Aeronautics Branch and pilots, operators, manufacturers, the Army, the Navy, and the Post Office Department.
19301231: Airworthiness regulations for aircraft components and accessories became effective.
19301231: Calendar year, 1930: By this year, Cleveland Municipal Airport had established radio control of airport traffic. In the next five years approximately 20 cities followed Cleveland’s lead.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19601230: FAA and Air Force jointly announced a U.S. Air Force program to develop a long-range all-cargo aircraft designed to meet civil and military needs. Part of a program to modernize the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) with long-range jet transports, the aircraft was to be developed in such a way as to be qualified, upon completion, for immediate FAA certification as a commercial carrier. On December 17. 1963, the U.S. Air Force’s C-141A first flew, and on April 23, 1965, the Air Force accepted delivery of its first C0141. On January 19, 1965, FAA had type-certificated the civil version, the Lockheed Model 300-50AOl (StarLifter).
19631230: FAA made public a study completed for the agency by a private research firm with the cooperation of the Air Transport Association.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19481229: CAA revealed details of a U.S.-U.K. agreement based on previous action by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The United Kingdom agreed to install an airway and traffic control system similar to that then in use in the United States. The United States would procure four low-frequency radio ranges to supplement the three already operating in the British Isles, and assist in installing the facilities as requested.
19691229: FAA abolished the Honolulu Area Office and transferred its functions to the regional office.
19701229: The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, enacted this date, required that most U.S. civil aircraft carry emergency locator transmitters (ELTs), also known as crash locator beacons, after December 30, 1973.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19481228: CAA ordered a complete end to racial segregation at Washington National Airport following a Department of Justice opinion that the Administrator had authority to issue such a ruling notwithstanding the apparent incorporation of the Virginia segregation statute in the Federal law governing the airport.
19781228: Administrator Bond established a Light Transport Airplane Airworthiness Review looking to the adoption, in December 1980, of a new FAR Part 24 that would establish separate airworthiness standards for airplanes intended for commuter operations.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19381227: President Roosevelt announced an experimental Civilian Pilot Training Program involving 330 pilots and 13 colleges and supported by National Youth Administration funds. (See June 27, 1939.)
19631227: The civil-military common system of air navigation and air traffic control moved forward a step with a final action on FAA-DOD agreements defining the use, technical standards, and equipment characteristics of a key component–the air traffic control radar beacon system (ATCRBS). (See September 11, 1961, and March 4, 1976.)
19741227: A House subcommittee chaired by Rep. Harley O. Staggers (D-W.Va.) issued a report criticizing FAA as sluggish, insufficiently strict in its aircraft certification procedures, and too solicitous of the interests of the aviation industry. Cases cited by the committee included the agency’s handling of the DC-10 cargo door problem (see March 3, 1974). The committee also faulted FAA for slowness in requiring the Ground Proximity Warning System on airliners, a criticism underlined by the recent crash of a TWA jet (see December 1, 1974). On December 28, public confidence in FAA was further weakened by an ABC television broadcast, prepared by science editor Jules Bergman, that portrayed the agency as lax on postcrash survival and other safety issues.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19611226: Air traffic rules establishing the first national standards for conducting flight operations on and around all controlled airports throughout the country became effective. At airports providing Federal traffic control tower service, the new rules established airport traffic areas, approach and departure procedures, and pattern altitudes; required two-way radio communications; and set airspeed limits within the airport traffic area. The airport traffic area affected was defined as airspace within a five-mile horizontal radius from the airport’s center extending from the surface up to 2,000 feet.
19721226: A National Transportation Safety Board study group investigating the safety of air taxi and commuter aircraft operations released its findings and recommendations to the public. The study group was formed after a series of air taxis accidents in late October 1971 claimed 39 lives. The panel recommended more stringent safety requirements for the industry, including higher qualifications for air taxi and commuter pilots, more thorough training for maintenance personnel, and improved oversight by FAA. (See December 1, 1978.)

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
20031225: Runway 17L/35R opened at Orlando International Airport.
20091225: A passenger on Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit tried to explode a device and was subdued by passengers and crew. The flight landed safety at Detroit where the individual was arrested. On January 3, 2010, the Transportation Security Administration issued new security directives to all United States and international air carriers with inbound flights to the U.S. effective January 4, 2010.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19631224: New York International Airport (known as Idlewild) was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport.
19741224: FAA published a rule requiring installation of the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) on large turbojet and turboprop airliners. The equipment was to provide both visual and aural signals when the aircraft was less than 2,500 feet above the ground. The rule’s implementation deadline of December 1, 1975, was subsequently extended due to persisting technical difficulties, but all major airlines were in compliance by the end of 1976. A rule published on October 10, 1978, extended the GPWS requirement to smaller commuter airline turbojets if able to seat as many as ten passengers. (See December 1, 1974, and March 17, 1992.)

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19401223: United Air Lines began what was probably the first all-freight service by a U.S. airline, supplementing its regular service with a daily all-cargo flight westbound from New York to Chicago. This experiment in freight service ended May 31, 1941. (See August 12, 1949.)
19701223: FAA established the Office of Systems Engineering Management in the Office of the Associate Administrator for Engineering and Development. This new office replaced the abolished Systems Engineering Management Staff.
19761223: FAA published a rule establishing deadlines for phased compliance of all jet transport aircraft with the noise standards already established for new aircraft types (see October 26, 1973).

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19671222: FAA renamed its Installation and Materiel Service the Logistics Service to describe better the service’s revised functions. (See May 16, 1962 and January 19, 1970.)
19701222: FAA established the Office of Environmental Quality and simultaneously abolished the Office of Noise Abatement, which formed the nucleus of the new office. This organizational change reflected FAA’s expanding responsibilities in such areas of environmental quality as aircraft noise abatement, sonic boom, smoke emission, exhaust pollution, and aircraft waste. FAA issued an order on February 19, 1971, transferring the aircraft noise abatement research program to the Systems Research and Development Service. (See July 21, 1967 and September 10, 1978.)