This Day in FAA History: June 3rd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19260603: Amended legislation introduced a more workable method of paying airlines for carrying mail. The Air Mail Act of February 2, 1925, commonly known as the Kelly Act, had provided for transportation of mail on the basis of contracts between the Post Office Department and individual air carriers, a system that was to prove a great boon to America’s fledgling airlines. Under the original Kelly Act, however, the carrier’s compensation was computed as a percentage of the actual postage affixed to the mail carried. Since this computation proved cumbersome, the 1926 amendment substituted a procedure under which the airlines were paid by the pound for mail carried. (See May 17, 1928.)
19590603: FAA announced that the agency had commissioned UNIVAC file computers for use in air traffic control at its New York and Washington air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs). Additional systems were scheduled to be installed in late summer at the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Boston ARTCCs. These general purpose electronic computers were to be used in preparing flight progress strips, exchanging information with one another, and generally aiding air traffic controllers in their “bookkeeping chores.”
19730603: The crash of a Tupolev TU-144 during a demonstration flight at the Paris Air Show dealt a serious blow to the Soviet supersonic transport program. (See December 31, 1968, and December 26, 1975.)
19850603: A directive issued on this date established the Airport Capacity Program Office under the Associate Administrator for Airports. (See February 21, 1990.)
19980603: Department of Transportation Secretary Slater announced the award of a contract to Advanced Management Technologies, Inc., to provide expertise in the adaptation of the global positioning system (GPS) to civil aviation needs. The contract was worth $27 million over three years, with four one-year options that could bring the full potential contract value up to $62 million. Under the contract, the company would provide technical engineering and program management support for current and future satellite and satellite augmentation systems for FAA. (See March 30, 1998; January 29, 1999.)
19990603: A twin-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-80 carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, crashed at Little Rock National Airport as violent thunderstorms and winds swept through the region. Survivors said the plane swerved out of control almost immediately after making contact, slid off the end of the 7,200-foot runway at a high speed, and crashed into a steel tower. (See October 23, 2001.)
20080603: FAA dedicated a new 228-foot-tall airport traffic control tower at the Huntsville International Airport. The facility had become operational at 6 a.m., Sunday, May 4. The $18.5 million tower complex was located one mile south of the previous facility in a gated, fenced complex between the parallel runways. The project consisted of the control tower and a 10,500-square foot base building and included a generator building and parking. The new 800 square foot TRACON more than doubled the size of the old TRACON.
20130603: NASA awarded $38 million in contracts to Boeing, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, and Saab Sensis to conduct research to develop and improve technologies and methods to improve situational awareness of real-time electronic information. The two-year contracts, with three one-year follow-on options would total $9.5 million if NASA exercised all contract options. NASA tasked the companies with studying the human factors designs of how information could be best presented on flight decks or at control stations, including developing human-machine interfaces that reduced uncertainties associated with real-time information presentation.
20200603: The Department of Transportation took regulatory action in response to the failure of China to permit U.S. carriers to perform scheduled passenger air services in accordance with China’s obligations under the U.S.-China Air Transport Agreement. On June 4, the Civil Aviation Authority of China responded by revising its restrictions to permit U.S. carriers the ability to operate one flight per week each. As a result, the Department revised its June 3 order and granted Chinese carriers, in aggregate, the right to operate two weekly passenger flights to the United States. On June 15, Chinese officials notified the Department of Transportation that U.S. carriers had been approved to fly four weekly flights to China. In return, the Department amended its order to allow the Chinese air carriers to continue to fly four weekly flights between China and the United States. On July 30, DOT issued an order disapproving future schedules that Chinese carriers filed with the Department pursuant to the original May 22 order. None of the schedules that Chinese carriers filed could be operated because of the Chinese government’s restrictions on international flights. DOT conveyed to its Chinese counterparts that the order was a procedural matter. “The Department continues to indicate our willingness to revisit our action should the Chinese aviation authorities adjust their policies to bring about the necessary improved situation for U.S. carriers in which both they and the Chinese carriers could fully exercise their bilateral rights.” On August 18, DOT announced it would allow the four Chinese airlines that had scheduled passenger service to the U.S. to increase their flights to eight weekly round-trip flights. DOT approved the increased service after China permitted, on August 12, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines to increase their number of flights into China. (See October 27, 2017.)
20230603: President Biden signed into law HR 346, which required the FAA administrator to establish a task force to provide recommendations for improving the Notice to Air Missions system. The task force would review existing methods for publishing NOTAMs and flight operations information for pilots; review regulations, policies, systems, and international standards relating to NOTAMs, including their content and presentation to pilots; evaluate and determine best practices to organize, prioritize, and present flight operations information in a manner that optimizes pilot review and retention of relevant information; provide recommendations to improve the publication and delivery of NOTAM information; and report to Congress on its reviews and evaluations. By September 30, 2024, FAA must complete the implementation of a federal NOTAM system and implement a backup system and brief Congress on a plan to enhance information delivery through this federal system to promote further global harmonization and provide users of the National Airspace System a consistent format for domestic and international operations. (See January 11, 2023.)