Civil Aviation Authority leaders to face MPs on new consumer protections, green fuels and 2023 NATS incident
The Transport Committee questions Civil Aviation Authority Chair Sir Stephen Hillier and senior policy heads on issues including long-awaited powers to fine airlines, promoting sustainable aviation fuel, and last August’s major air traffic control incident.
Sir Stephen was reappointed as Chair this year, having first taken the post in 2020. His contract will run until July 2028. He will be questioned on what he feels he achieved in his first four years, and on his priorities for his new term.
Meeting details
The cross-party Committee quiz the panel on what the CAA may be doing in advance of the Government bringing forward new consumer protection powers. Ministers have promised legislation to enable the CAA to fine airlines and travel companies for failures to care for consumers and provide redress when required.
MPs ask about the recent CAA-commissioned report into the National Air Traffic Control system failure in August 2023 that saw over 2,000 flights cancelled due to a software malfunction at NATS. There will be questions around why recommendations made in 2014 that should have improved resilience have not been progressed by various stakeholders in the sector, and other ways in which NATS and the CAA could avoid a repeat of this type of system failure.
There will also be questions about the Government’s recent Future of Flight Action Plan which included policies to promote public use of drones that operate “beyond the pilot’s line of sight”, and to develop the use of eVTOLs (Electric Vehicle Take-Off and Landing), or “flying taxis”, by 2028. The CAA will be questioned on its future role as a regulator for these vehicles and its oversight of trials.
The Committee quiz the regulator on its Environmental Sustainability Strategy and its work to investigate and promote the use of sustainable aviation fuels, including battery electric and hydrogen. MPs will also be interested to hear about progress made with modernising UK airspace since the CAA published a Progress Report for 2022.
There may also be questions about CAA’s work-in-progress ‘Strategy for AI’. It says AI is already used in “predictive maintenance”, aiding air traffic management, and in pilot training with advanced insights and simulations.
The Department for Transport carried out a review of the CAA’s role and how it operates and recently made recommendations on how to improve its accountability among stakeholders and its financial efficiency.