The digital era of aviation started on December 17, 1903, after Orville Wright with Wilbur who was his brother flew for the first time in an aircraft they designed. Aviation leaders believed that without federal intervention to strengthen and sustain safety requirements, aviation industry experts thought the aircraft would never attain its maximum commercial viability. In 1926, the act which was Air Commerce was approved at their request. The Commissioner of Commerce was tasked with creating and implementing air traffic regulations, encouraging air trade, licensing pilots, inspecting aircraft, constructing airways, and maintaining and operating aids to flight operations under this momentous act (Migala 2017). Commerce department which had Aeronautics branch took over highest priority for aviation supervision, and William P. MacCracken, Jr. was named its first director.
In 1938, President Roosevelt approved the Civil Aeronautics Act to ensure a government emphasis on aviation security. In the latter half of the year 1958, the Federal Aviation Act was enacted, which established a new standalone Federal Aviation agency. Workers of the Federal Aviation agency were accommodated in many widely distributed places since the organization had no designated workplace. However, the Federal Aviation Agency’s personnel in Washington headquarters started relocating into the freshly constructed Federal workplace in November 1963.
Worried about the absence of an integrated transportation system, President Johnson argued that a single agency was required to create and implement efficient transport programs and policies spanning all forms of transportation. The formation of a cabinet department to integrate significant federal transportation duties was approved by Congress in 1966. In 1967, the new transportation department went into full function (Updegrove & Jafer 2017). Additionally, the Federal Aviation Agency was renamed the Federal Aviation Administration and was one of many modal entities under transportation department.
References
Migala, S. J. (2017). UAS: Understanding the Airspace of States. J. Air L. & Com., 82, 3.
Updegrove, J. A., & Jafer, S. (2017). Optimization of air traffic control training at the Federal Aviation Administration Academy. Aerospace, 4(4), 50.