Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19330610: President Roosevelt issued an order changing the designation and broadening the duties of the Commerce Department’s Assistant Secretary for Aeronautics, effective 61 days from this date. The position was given the simpler title of Assistant Secretary of Commerce and made responsible for bureaus dealing with surface transportation as well as air transportation. A second Assistant Secretary had charge of bureaus dealing with trade and industry.
On June 15, the position of Director of Aeronautics became head of the Aeronautics Branch. (For earlier use of this same title, see entries for July 1, 1927, and November 1929.) The Director was to be assisted by three new Assistant Directors in charge of the divisions of Air Regulation, Airways, and Aeronautic Development.
On June 16, the President announced the appointment of Ewing Y. Mitchell to be the Assistant Secretary of Commerce responsible for transportation, and also named the three Assistant Directors of Aeronautics. The Director of Aeronautics position remained vacant until September 19, 1933 (see that date).
19650610: A British European Airways Trident I landing in London made the first automatic touchdown by a scheduled commercial airliner carrying fare-paying passengers. (See December 8, 1964, and July 7, 1967.)
19650610: FAA’s Pacific Region established an area office on each of five Hawaiian Islands having FAA activities: Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Hawaii, and Maui. Because of FAA’s withdrawal from Canton Island, however, the area office there was disestablished. On July 1, the agency ceased operations for Canton and relinquished responsibility for the island to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (See October 1, 1963, and June 17, 1966.)
19770610: The Senate confirmed Alfred E. Kahn as Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). A former economics professor at Cornell, Kahn was a long-time champion of free market competition. Although the effort to increase competition in air transportation had begun before President Carter appointed him (see September 2, 1976), Kahn carried it much further. During his 15 months at CAB, the Board approved major fare reductions and awarded many new routes and services, such as the transatlantic Skytrain (see September 16, 1977). Kahn’s policies at CAB helped pave the way for legislation that virtually ended the economic regulation of airlines. (See November 9, 1977.)
19970610: FAA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would require the installation of fire detection and suppression systems in the sealed cargo holds of all commercial aircraft. The airline industry would have three years from the time the rule became final to meet the new standards. According to the agency, the new rule would affect approximately 3,000 passenger aircraft and another 300 cargo planes. Most long-range passenger aircraft, such as the new Boeing 777 jetliners, already met the new standard. (See May 14, 1997; February 12, 1998.)
20030610: Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced the selection of Russell G. Chew as the FAA’s first Air Traffic Organization Chief Operating Officer (COO). (See April 5, 2000; December 7, 2000; November 18, 2003; February 23, 2007.)
20130610: FAA asked the world’s fuel producers to submit proposals for fuel options to help the general aviation industry transition to an unleaded fuel. FAA hoped to develop a new unleaded fuel by 2018 that would minimize the impact of replacing 100 octane low-lead fuel for most of the general aviation fleet. The request came in response to the July 2012 unleaded avgas transition aviation rulemaking committee report to FAA, which noted the currently unavailability of an unleaded replacement fuel. (See February 13, 2013; August 14, 2013; September 8, 2014.)
20140610: FAA gave approval for energy corporation BP and unmanned aircraft systems manufacturer AeroVironment to fly an AeroVironment Puma AE for aerial surveys in Alaska – the first time FAA had authorized a commercial UAS operation over land. FAA issued a certificate of waiver or authorization to survey BP pipelines, roads, and equipment at Prudhoe Bay, AK, the largest oilfield in the United States. (See June 9, 2014; June 20, 2014.)
20220610: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced the end of the requirement for a pre-departure COVID-19 test for U.S.-bound air travelers.
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