Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19320101: The first Air Commerce Regulations governing gliders and gliding became effective.
19350101: The Bureau of Air Commerce announced a new policy for the classification of airports, under which only those airports serving scheduled interstate airlines would be examined for compliance with its requirements.
19380101: An Airport Traffic Control Section was created in the Airways Operation Division of the Bureau of Air Commerce. The new section was to standardize airport control tower equipment, operation techniques, and personnel. Forty airport control tower operators had been certificated by June 30, 1938.
19400101: The Civil Aeronautics Authority assumed operation of communication stations at Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska.
19540101: Effective this date the Civil Aeronautics Board delegated to the Civil Aeronautics Administration responsibility for the investigation of accidents involving small airplanes. The Board retained its responsibility for investigating accidents involving fixed-wing aircraft of over 12,500 pounds, aircraft used in Alaskan air carrier operations, and helicopters or non-fixed-wing aircraft.
19600101: A major realignment of responsibilities for Federal Aviation Agency field operations became effective. Under the new centralized concept of operations, the Washington Bureaus of Air Traffic, Facilities and Materiel, and Flight Standards, as well as the Office of the Civil Air Surgeon, received authority to exercise direct supervision over all program activities in the field except in Alaska, Hawaii, and at the Aeronautical Center and National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center. FAA abolished the position of Regional Administrator and created, in its place, the post of Regional Manager to carry out the administrative and support functions required by the program divisions in the field. In March, FAA prescribed a standard organization for the regional headquarters under the new system. At the same time the agency gave managers in Region 1 through 4 authority to foster coordination and exchange of information among all field divisions.
19620101: As a step in the Federal Aviation Agency’s decentralization of operational activities to the field (see July 1, 1961), FAA transferred to its seven regions the additional responsibility of processing enforcement actions arising from violations of the Civil Air Regulations by air carriers, air carrier airmen, manufacturers, or military personnel. The regions already had authority to process actions in the general aviation field.
19660101: Part 137 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, “Agricultural Aircraft Operations,” became effective on this date, establishing for the first time national standards and requirements for private and commercial agricultural operator certificates, operating rules, aircraft airworthiness, and pilot qualifications.
19680101: The Federal Aviation Administration began a one-year study of the causes of near-collisions in the air, hoping to gather data for developing effective counteractive measures. Since the study’s success depended on the full and frank cooperation of those involved, FAA granted immunity from any enforcement or other adverse action, remedial or disciplinary, to any person involved in a near miss that had been voluntarily reported to FAA during the course of the study. On December 18, FAA extended the program for an additional year. (See June 7, 1961, and July 15, 1969.)
19700101: The Department of Labor designated the Federal Aviation Administration as the agency responsible for air transportation industry compliance with the equal employment opportunity provision of Executive Order 11246 (issued September 24, 1965), which prohibited discrimination in hiring by the government and its contractors.
19700101: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation, and S.E.R.E.B. merged forming the Societe National Industrielle Aerospatiale.
19740101: The Federal Aviation Administration established the first Group II terminal control area (TCA) at St. Louis. Group II TCAs were designed for locations with a lower level of enplaned passengers and aircraft operations than at Group I sites. On January 13, the agency completed establishment of nine Group I TCAs when the Dallas-Fort Worth TCA became operational. The other Group I TCAs were at Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Miami. (See June 4, 1973, August 1, 1975)
19760101: The Federal Aviation Administration issued a new air traffic control handbook, representing a consolidation of two formerly separate manuals–one on terminal and the other on en route air traffic control. To improve controller-pilot communications, FAA on April 26 announced publication of a new air traffic control glossary four times the length of that previously included in the Airmans Information Manual. The National Transportation Safety Board had recommended issuance of such a glossary after a crash at Berryville, Va. (see December 1, 1974).
19800101: Effective this date, Administrator Langhorne Bond established the lead region concept under which designated Federal Aviation Administration regions assumed certain responsibilities on a nationwide basis. FAA assigned “lead regions” to perform national headquarters staff functions relative to various aspects of aircraft certification, while “certificating regions” held final certification authority for certain categories of aircraft, parts, or materials. The lead regions were: Central (for aircraft under 12,500 lbs.); Southwest (for rotorcraft); Great Lakes (for propellers); and New England (for engines). In addition, the agency designated New England as the first certificating region, with certification authority for all foreign engines as well as all domestically-manufactured turbojet engines of 15,000 lbs. thrust or greater. Later in 1980, two more of the original lead regions were designated certificating regions for their categories of special responsibility: Great Lakes, effective July 1, 1980; and Central, effective January 15, 1981. In addition, Northwest became the lead region for transport aircraft with gross takeoff weights of 12,500 pounds or more, as well as the certificating region for foreign transport aircraft and domestically-manufactured transports of 75,000 lb. or greater, effective November 1, 1980. (See November 1, 1981.)
20010101: As part of FAA-industry Capstone partnership, FAA began the first use of ADS-B technology to track and service traffic near Bethel, Alaska – an area that had no radar coverage. The new system used ground-based transceivers to pick up transmissions from aircraft equipped with ADS-B. The information was then transmitted via phone line and satellite to the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center, where it was displayed electronically to controllers. (See October 26-28, 2000; April 1, 2002.)
20130101: The Senate confirmed Michael Huerta as the new FAA administrator. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood swore him in for a five-year term on January 7. (See March 27, 2012.)