This Day in FAA History: May 28th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19370528: National Aviation Day occurred for the first time, on a one-time basis, pursuant to a Presidential proclamation issued in accordance with Public Resolution No. 32, 75th Congress, approved May 25, 1937. May 28 was selected because it marked the 20th anniversary of the decision to design what later became known as the Liberty engine, the principal U.S. contribution to aeronautics during World War I. (See August 19, 1939.)
19480528: The President approved legislation directing CAA to construct and operate public airports at or near Anchorage and Fairbanks “adequate for the needs of air-transportation services and air commerce of the United States serving the territory of Alaska and foreign countries by way of points within the territory of Alaska.” The act also authorized the Administrator to provide for facilities, roads, and services necessary to the operation of the airports. The two airports opened for commercial service in 1951, initially using temporary terminal buildings. The state of Alaska assumed responsibility for operating the two facilities in 1960.
19580528: CAB adopted Special Civil Air Regulation 424, which authorized the CAA Administrator to designate as a “positive control route segment” any portion of the airspace between 17,000 and 35,000 feet to a width of not more than 40 miles. Within airspace so designated, all visual flight rule (VFR) flights would be prohibited regardless of weather; only instrument flight rule (IFR) operations, conducted with the prior approval of air traffic control, were to be permitted. This ruling took into account the extreme closure rates of high performance aircraft, and represented a major modification of the long-established, “see-andbe-seen” philosophy applicable to VFR operations. Until that time Board rulings on the subject had dealt primarily with meteorological conditions affecting a pilot’s ability to see other aircraft.
On June 15, CAA designated five positive control routes on trial basis. Although only a stopgap measure to improve safety, the designation of these airways marked the beginning of positive control. On September 15, 1959, FAA made these positive control routes permanent, and began plans to develop more positive control in both a route and area basis. (See October 15, 1960-March 1, 1961.)
19810528: At a meeting on this date, Administrator Helms directed a change in policy on acquisition of space for the planned Automated Flight Service Stations, known as AFSSs (see April 2, 1980). In addition to building and owning the facilities, FAA would also lease space at airports from municipalities, airport operators, private parties, or government agencies at the state or Federal level. FAA would seek competitive bids to obtain the most favorable rates. (See October 2, 1981, and November 1982.)
19920528: FAA opened a two-day International Conference on Airplane Ground Deicing. The conference reflected global concern about icing and produced a series of recommendations for combating the hazard. On September 25, FAA announced a requirement for airlines using large aircraft (Part 121) to have an approved ground de-icing/anti-icing program in place by November 1, 1992. On December 29, 1993, FAA announced strengthened deicing requirements for commuter and air taxi pilots to check aircraft surfaces before taking off in adverse weather. The agency also mandated certain new training requirements for commuter pilots as well as certain training and checking requirements for pilots of larger private planes. (See March 22, 1992, and October 31, 1994.)
19950528: Effective this date, DOT gave the Office of Airline Statistics the new name Office of Airline Information and transferred it from the Research and Special Projects Administration to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a multi-modal agency which had been established in December 1992.
19970528: The National Civil Aviation Review Commission, lead by Norman Mineta, held the first of two public hearings regarding the financing of certain FAA services. Seventeen organizations testified. September 25, the commission made its “Preliminary Finance Report” available to the public. October 28, a second, and final, public hearing was held. December 11, Mineta issued the commission’s final report, “Avoiding Aviation Gridlock and Reducing the Accident Rate: A Consensus for Change,” which noted that airline passengers were doomed to massive airport congestion and more dangerous skies unless FAA received a radical overhaul. The 21-member panel called on lawmakers and the White House to improve FAA management and finances. It urged a partial privatization of the agency and steps to shield aviation regulation from partisan budget battles. The proposed reforms would let the FAA beef up funding for the air traffic control system and airports to accommodate a rise in air traffic. (See September 30, 1996.)
19970528: FAA sent a letter to Raytheon indicating its concern about delays in the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) project. FAA proposed to elevate STARS software development to high risk status because of delays in meeting project milestones. (See September 16, 1996; September 11, 1997.)
19990528: FAA and Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS), representing approximately 7,600 employees, announced they had agreed to resume negotiations with the help of a mediator. (See January 11, 2000.)
20130528: The U.S. and Saudi Arabia signed an Open Skies agreement, which, following a transition period, would permit unrestricted air service by the airlines of both countries between and beyond the other’s territory, eliminating restrictions on how often the carriers flew, the kind of aircraft they used, and the prices they charged. This became the 109th such agreement the U.S. signed with other nations. (See March 25, 2013; July 8, 2013.)
20140528: FAA approved extended operations for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, allowing the plane to fly for up to 330 minutes (5.5 hours) away from an airport rather than the previous 180 minutes. FAA’s approval allowed new routings, such as nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne. It also allowed the longer-range version of the 787, called the 787-9, to fly polar routes. (See March 19, 2014; December 2, 2014.)
20140528: FAA and Virgin Galactic signed an agreement setting parameters for how routine space missions launched from Spaceport America would be integrated into the NAS. In particular, the agreement spelled out how FAA’s Albuquerque ARTCC and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority would work with Virgin Galactic to safely provide clear airspace for SpaceShipTwo. (See January 10, 2014; October 31, 2014.)
20200528: A modified Cessna Caravan turboprop powered by electricity made its first flight at Moses Lake, Washington. (See January 7, 2020.)
20210528: FAA issued an alert advising U.S. passenger airlines to exercise extreme caution while flying over Belarus. The notice to airmen said airlines should continue to exercise extreme caution until the agency could better assess Belarus’ actions surrounding the May 23 diversion of a passenger jet and the potential for Belarus to repeat similar actions in the future. FAA planned to continue its oversight of Boeing’s engineering and production activities and implemented oversight provisions from the 2020 Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act. (See June 29, 2021.)