This Day in FAA History: June 20th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19280620: Braniff Air Lines began operations. Organized by brothers Thomas and Paul Braniff, the airline carried passengers between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The brothers soon sold their airline, but later organized Braniff Airways, which began operations on November 13, 1930, in the same region. After expanding and acquiring Latin American routes, the company changed its name to Braniff International Airways on June 4, 1948.
19300620: Aeronautics Branch certificated its first glider, the Detroit Gull, Model G-1.
19350620: President Roosevelt ordered the creation of the Interdepartmental Committee on Civil International Aviation to gather information and make recommendations pertaining to civil international aviation. The committee was terminated upon the creation of the Civil Aeronautics Authority on August 22, 1938.
19400620: Pan American inaugurated regular air mail service between Seattle and Juneau, Alaska, with a Sikorsky S-42 flight via Ketchikan. Passenger service began on June 24.
19570620: CAA made public a plan for the security control of air traffic and electromagnetic radiations (SCATER) during an air defense emergency. The joint product of CAA, CAB, the Air Force, and the Navy, it was based on a plan that had been approved in 1952, expanded to include air traffic security control rules. (See July 15, 1952.)
19590620: The President approved a two-year extension of Federal-aid to airport program (FAAP) at the current $63 million level of funding. An administration bill had proposed $200 million for a four-year period of “orderly withdrawal” from the aid program, while the Senate originally passed a four-year $465 million program. The House approved a $297 million plan for the four-year period. Refusal of the President to expand the FAAP commitment and the failure of the Senate-House conferees to resolve their differences resulted in this stopgap compromise measure. (See January 21, 1959 and September 20, 1961.)
19680620: FAA abolished the Northway (Alaska) Area Office and transferred its duties to the Fairbanks Area Office. (See April 23, 1959.)
19690620: Numerous FAA facilities felt the effects of a work stoppage by PATCO-affiliated air traffic controllers, who claimed illness and did not report for work. The “sickout,” which resulted in widespread flight delays, coincided with congressional hearings on legislation to provide higher pay, early retirement, and other benefits for controllers. Of 477 controllers who took sick leave during the job action, FAA suspended 80 from three to fifteen days. On July 27, FAA terminated its dues-withholding agreement with PATCO, stating that it was not in the public interest to assist an organization taking part in an illegal job action. (See June 11, 1969, and October 27, 1969.)
19840620: The Civil Aeronautics Board published additional rules regulating smoking on aircraft (see May 10, 1973). The provisions included a ban on smoking in air carrier aircraft with fewer than 30 passenger seats, except for on-demand air taxis, and a total ban on smoking in airliners while on the ground. After the Board ceased to exist at the end of 1984, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation administered these rules. (See August 13, 1986.)
19860620: A directive issued this date established a new Office of Science and Advanced Technology reporting directly to the Administrator. The office was later abolished by a directive issued on August 29, 1988.
19950620: A series of encounters with turbulence on this date and June 25 and June 26 injured a total of over 40 airline passengers and crew members. On June 27, Secretary of Transportation Peña directed FAA to review recent turbulence incidents and determine whether new seat belt rules are needed. The next day, FAA issued a public advisory instructing airline passengers to use seat belts whenever seated. (See December 17, 1996.)
20130620: Controllers began handling flights from a new, 236-foot tower at Oakland International Airport. The new tower replaced two existing towers – the first built in 1962 and the other approximately 10 years ago when a new hanger blocked controllers’ view of the north side of the airport. Having all controllers working in one tower reduced the amount of coordination required between the two towers and streamlined operations and procedures. (See October 15, 2010; November 22, 2013.)
20140620: National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis signed a policy memorandum directing all national park superintendents to write rules barring the launching, landing, or operation of drones. Unmanned aircraft had already been prohibited at several national parks. Those parks initiated bans after noise and nuisance complaints from park visitors, an incident in which park wildlife were harassed, and concerns about the safety of park visitors. (See June 10, 2014; June 20, 2014; October 5, 2017.)
20140620: FAA granted the Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi team a two-year certificate of waiver or authorization to use an AAAI RS-16 UAS. The RS-16 weighed approximately 85 pounds and had a wingspan of almost 13 feet. Texas A&M Corpus Christi’s research concentrated on multiple areas, including safety of operations and data gathering in authorized airspace, UAS airworthiness standards, command and control link technologies, human-factors issues for UAS control-station layout, and detect-and-avoid technologies. The site was the fourth of six to become operational. (See June 9, 2014; June 20, 2014; August 7, 2014.)