This Day in FAA History: July 12th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19400712: A Pan American Boeing 314 left San Francisco for Aukland, beginning service between the United States and New Zealand for air mail. Passenger service began September 13, 1940.
19540712: CAA and the Air Force announced the completion of plans for CAA to operate radar approach control centers (RAPCONs) at 18 military bases, to serve both civil and military traffic. The first joint RAPCON had been commissioned at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, on April 4, 1954.
19610712: Findings of a recently completed U.S. Civil Service Commission review of the functions and operations of FAA flight service stations were released. The CSC study concluded that changes in the functions and responsibilities of specialists at these facilities warranted in many instances one or two-grade salary increases.
19660712: Effective this date, FAA established a policy that television towers or other structures in excess of 2,000 feet above the ground were presumed to be hazards to air navigation. The agency would only rule that no hazard existed in exceptional cases in which an applicant had shown clearly that the structure would cause no danger of inefficient use of airspace.
19740712: FAA announced a contract with Honeywell for 10 Central Control and Monitoring Systems for use at air route traffic control centers and the Aeronautical Center. The computerized devices were designed to to keep watch on electrical, mechanical, and fire alarm systems. They would alert technicians in case of trouble, and also effect savings by reducing or turning off power to certain equipment at off-peak periods. FAA announced a contract for an additional 11 systems on January 30, 1976, and a total of 9 were installed by the end of that year.
19760712: FAA put into effect a national beacon code allocation plan under which pilots flying in the contiguous U.S. would be able to keep the same radar beacon identification code from takeoff to landing, without having to change codes as had previously been required when they flew from one area or altitude to another.
19760712: President Ford signed Public Law 94-353, the Airport and Airway Development Act Amendments of 1976, ending a one-year lapse in authorization for Federal airport aid (see June 30, 1975). The legislation marked the third time that the Airport and Airway Development and Revenue Acts of 1970 were amended (see May 21, 1970, November 27, 1971, and June 18, 1973). The new law sharply raised the Airport Development Aid Program (ADAP) funding levels to a total of $2.73 billion for the five-year period 1976-1980. It also increased the Federal share for ADAP grants from 50 percent to 75 percent for the nation’s 67 largest airports. For smaller airports, the Federal share rose from 75 percent to 90 percent for fiscal 1976-78 and 80 percent for fiscal 1979-80. The Federal share for planning grants rose from 66 2/3 percent to 75 percent, with some exceptions. The new law simplified funding procedures and expanded the types of projects eligible for ADAP assistance to include snow removal equipment as well as equipment, barriers, landscaping, and land acquisition for the purpose of airport noise abatement.
In addition, the legislation authorized appropriations from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund during fiscal 1976-80 of : $1.3 billion for establishing and improving Federal air navigation facilities; $1.5 billion for maintaining such facilities; and $1.275 million to assist the states in developing their own general aviation airport standards. Other provisions of the law included authorizing the Secretary of Transportation to select four states to receive demonstration grants for administering the general aviation portion of the ADAP program (see November 24, 1976). The law also established commuter service airports, a new class of air carrier airport not served by carriers holding CAB certificates of public convenience and necessity. (See September 30, 1980.)
19760712: FAA redesignated its Office of Information Services the Office of Public Affairs, its name prior to a 1973 reorganization (see September 10, 1973). This change also transferred from Public Affairs the congressional correspondence function to the Executive Secretariat and the congressional liaison function to the Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs.
19940712: United Air Lines’ parent corporation announced that its shareholders had voted to transfer 55 percent majority ownership of United to the airline’s employees. The deal made United the largest employee-owned U.S. company.
19940712: FAA dedicated its National Aviation Safety Data Analysis Center (NASDAC). Located at national headquarters, NASDAC provided access to safety-related computer data bases and relevant reference material in printed form. A new and improved NASDAC formally opened on March 14, 1996.
20100712: SRA International announced that its subsidiary company Systems Research and Applications Corporation had won a five-year, $57 million FAA contract to provide research and development services to the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ. The work would involve the areas of airport pavement design and testing; aircraft rescue and fire fighting; wildlife hazards; bird strike mitigation, and runway surface technology. SRA would also provide services in airport capacity analysis and planning, visual guidance and lighting technologies and materials testing.
20130712: US Airways’ planned merger with AMR Corp. was approved by the company’s shareholders. The vote, cast after the company’s annual general meeting in New York, returned a more than 99 percent approval of the deal, which still had to be approved by AMR’s bankruptcy court and U.S. regulators. (See February 13, 2013; August 13, 2013.)
20170712: FAA signed a maintenance agreement guidance (MAG) with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CASS). It provided guidance for the implementation of the previously agreed-upon maintenance implementation procedures (MIP). In cases where there were sufficient certificated facilities in both partner countries, MIPs could reduce the number of surveillance activities, free up inspector resources for the authorities, and reduce the regulatory burden on industry. There were 58 FAA-approved repair stations located in Singapore. The MAG furthered the MIP agreement signed by FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and CAAS on February 16, 2016. That agreement was the first of its kind in Asia and reduces costs by allowing the reciprocal acceptance of Singapore and the United States’ surveillance of maintenance work. (See February 16, 2016; February 8, 2018.)