ICYMI: KTUU Highlights Sullivan Effort to Secure $25 Million Investment in Alaska Aviation Safety
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) welcomed the announcement of a $25 million investment in Alaska aviation safety from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in an interview with Alaska’s News Source yesterday. This investment is the result of a Sullivan-authored provision in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 authorizing $25 million annually for the Don Young Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative (DYAASI) from FY 2025 through 2028. The investment includes the increase of satellite use to improve communications and weather reporting at airports throughout the state.
Sen. Sullivan cited Alaska’s higher than average aviation accident rate—2.35 times the national average—and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s commitment to Sullivan to strongly support Alaska aviation safety for laying the groundwork for the investment.
Click here or the image above to watch Sen. Sullivan’s interview.
Sen. Sullivan celebrates multi-million dollar investment in Alaska aviation safety
By: John Thompson
April 10, 2025
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Sen. Dan Sullivan and the Alaska Congressional Delegation are welcoming a $25 million investment from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to improve safety in Alaska’s skies.
The FAA will authorize $25 million annually from fiscal year 2025 through 2028 for the Don Young Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative.
“We launched this initiative last year in the FAA reauthorization bill — I was able to get this $25 million provision authorized to bring a lot more infrastructure,” Sullivan told Alaska’s News Source. “But it’s just a down payment.
“We need a lot more than that, and so this is the Trump administration working with us. You know, there’s been a lot of stories about the Trump administration cutting, but this is the Trump administration coming to Alaska saying, hey, we know this is a priority.”
Sullivan said that one of the reasons this was pushed through is his relationship with the new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy.
“After the Bering Air crash, he called me, ‘Senator, what can we do?‘,” Sullivan said.
“Since that time, he’s reached out to me two different times, ‘Hey, what more can we do?’ And then they called just two days ago, saying we saw your FAA provision on the $25 million, we’re going to appropriate for it right now.
“And this is a down payment because they said we need to do more.”
The FAA investment was in direct response to a 2020 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report that showed aviation accidents in Alaska happen at a rate 2.35 times higher than the rest of the United States. The report also showed that Alaska’s fatal accident rate was 1.34 times higher than that of the rest of the U.S.
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Ultimately, Sullivan believes the stars are aligning for a bright and safe future when it comes to Alaska aviation safety.
“All of these things come together in terms of our aviation, but getting more weather reporting and the infrastructure to do so in all of our airports [is coming with this new funding].”
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