U.S. federal regulator
Appears in 16 stories
Key bottleneck in onshore wind permitting
For nearly a decade, wind and solar power kept getting cheaper. That streak has broken. As of the first quarter of 2026, the average US solar power purchase agreement costs $64.49 per megawatt-hour and the average wind contract costs $79.40 per megawatt-hour. Both are the highest figures LevelTen Energy has recorded since it began indexing the market in 2018, with wind prices up roughly 24 percent and solar up more than 13 percent year over year.
Updated May 31
Shifted from hard production cap to performance-based oversight of Boeing
Boeing has burned cash every year since 2018. On Wednesday it reported a first-quarter adjusted loss of 20 cents per share — four times smaller than Wall Street's expected 83-cent loss — with $22.22 billion in revenue. CEO Kelly Ortberg told investors the company sees a path to roughly $3 billion in free cash flow for the full year.
Overseeing air traffic control review; issued statement on the incident
Late Sunday night, an Air Canada Express jet landing at New York's LaGuardia struck a Port Authority fire truck on an active runway, killing both pilots—Captain Antoine Forest, 30, and First Officer MacKenzie Gunther. Forty-one of the 76 people aboard were hospitalized, including a flight attendant ejected from her seat while strapped in. The airport shut down for 14 hours, canceling more than 600 flights.
Updated May 30
Imposed ground delays and ground stops at major Northeast airports
A nor'easter developed into a bomb cyclone on February 22-23, 2026, burying the Interstate 95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston under 1 to 2 feet of heavy, wet snow. In parts of New Jersey, totals exceeded 2 feet; Lyndhurst received 30.7 inches while New York City got 19 inches on February 24.
Updated May 29
Administering final year of IIJA airport grant programs
For five years, the largest airport-funding program in American history pumped roughly $3 billion a year into runways, terminals, and taxiways at more than 3,300 airports. In December 2025, the FAA released the final round: $2.89 billion in Airport Infrastructure Grant allocations for 2026 and approximately $1 billion for the last Airport Terminal Program competition, with no successor program planned.
Administering final year of five-year IIJA tower grant program
For decades, small and regional airports have relied on aging control towers from the 1960s and 1970s, receiving limited federal help for upgrades. On January 21, 2026, the FAA opened a grant window offering up to $120 million at 100% federal cost for tower reconstruction and remote tower construction.
Reopened Part 108 comment period January 28 – February 11, 2026; expected to finalize rule by mid-March 2026; facing pressure to impose stricter safety oversight before finalization
For nearly a decade, every U.S. commercial drone operator wanting to fly beyond a pilot's line of sight needed an individual FAA waiver — a slow, bespoke process that capped the industry at small pilot programs. On August 7, 2025, the FAA proposed Part 108: a new, standardized framework for routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations replacing individual waivers. In January 2026, the FAA reopened the comment period for 14 days (closing February 11, 2026) to refine the rule before finalizing it in March 2026.
Approving rate increases one step at a time
Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington has spent 28 months under a federal speed limit. On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it could go a little faster — from 42 jets a month to 47.
Updated May 27
Implementing reforms under intense scrutiny
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded its investigation into the January 2025 collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River—the deadliest U.S. aviation accident since 2001. All 67 people aboard both aircraft died, including 28 members of the figure skating community returning from a national development camp. The NTSB found the crash was '100% preventable' and issued 50 safety recommendations, with 32 directed at the Federal Aviation Administration.
Updated May 23
Finalizing BVLOS drone rules
Zipline spent eight years delivering blood to remote Rwandan clinics before Americans could order lunch from one of its drones. Now the company has crossed 2 million commercial deliveries—more than every competitor combined—and raised $600 million in January 2026 to bring its autonomous aircraft to Houston and Phoenix. At a $7.6 billion valuation, Zipline's strategy is proving the drone delivery market by starting where regulation permitted, then scaling into U.S. consumer markets.
Updated May 22
Licensed Flight 12 and Starbase Pad 2 operations
SpaceX scrubbed the first V3 launch attempt on May 21 when a hydraulic pin on the launch tower arm failed to retract at T-40 seconds. The company repaired the fault overnight and rescheduled the debut of Booster 19 and Ship 39 for May 22 from Starbase Pad 2.
Publishes the annual GA Safety Fact Sheet and certifies safety equipment
In 1994, small planes in the United States killed people at a rate of 1.73 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours. Three decades later, the rate has fallen by more than half.
Under pressure to close Part 135 weight-and-balance loophole
Ten people died when Bering Air Flight 445 crashed onto Norton Sound sea ice on February 6, 2025. The Cessna 208B was 1,058 pounds overweight for icing—a fact crash investigators discovered because the FAA doesn't require single-engine commuter operators to keep load manifests.
Updated May 19
Sets the licensing and corrective-action bar that determines whether cadence is real
On December 20, 2025, Blue Origin flew New Shepard NS-37—and a line quietly snapped. Michaela "Michi" Benthaus became the first wheelchair user to cross the Kármán line, float free in microgravity, and come home safely.
Updated May 15
Owner/operator of the National Airspace System; committing near-term funding and deadlines
The FAA is no longer talking about “modernization” like it’s a distant science project. In a House hearing, Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency will commit $6 billion by the end of 2025 to upgrade ATC telecom networks and radar surveillance, with a target deployment date of 2028.
Primary safety regulator for Boeing aircraft; imposes MAX groundings and oversight
On December 8, 2025, Boeing completed its $4.7 billion acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, valuing the deal at about $8.3 billion including debt. The transaction reversed a 2005 spin‑off that created the world's largest independent aerostructures supplier.
Updated May 10
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