FAA Reauthorization May Be Moving Out of Limbo ...

... finally. And the bipartisan Senate Commerce Committee members are posturing proudly. Senator Rockefeller postures, “For over 15 years, I have been fighting to improve air travel for passengers, airports, and airlines.” He forgets to mention that for two years he and his colleagues have been sitting on their Senate seats doing little while FAA frantically scrambled to deal with a series of continuing resolutions that kept the system and funding coming. This week the Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), and Jim DeMint (R-SC) joined together to announce, “The bipartisan legislation will accelerate modernization of the nation’s air traffic control (ATC) system, address critical safety concerns in the national airspace system (NAS), and improve rural community access to air service.” Hot topics on the Senators’ agenda include NextGen modernization, a boost for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, and increases in Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funding. While it eases restrictions related to passenger facility charges (PFCs), it does not call for an increase in the cap, currently set at $4.50 and not indexed for inflation. The House reauthorization bill passed in May calls for a new PFC cap of $7. This bill calls for “one level of safety” across all commercial aircraft operations in light of recent concerns which arose following the Buffalo crash earlier this year. FAA has been attacked as being “too cozy” with the industry it regulates. Specifically, the bill mandates that an independent study of the latest scientific research on pilot fatigue be applied to FAA’s required rulemaking on flight time limits and rest requirements for flight crews.  It also calls for increased federal oversight of outsourcing to foreign repair stations, which is raising concerns in some circles. For airports, it increases EAS funding to $175 million annually and maintains support for the Small Community Air Service Development Program. It provides for an increase in AIP funding to $4 billion in 2010 and $4.1 billion in 2011, and carries a provision to allow airports whose enplanement numbers have dropped below 10,000 in either 2008 or 2009 to continue to be eligible for AIP grant money at the 2007 funding level.  Aviation groups are essentially breathing a sigh of relief that the Senate has finally remembered that aviation system funding needs to be addressed. Two big question marks that remain for airports are whether or not the House and Senate can come to agreement on the PFC cap increase, and on the provision in the House bill that calls for stringent new requirements for aircraft rescue and firefighting. Well, it’s a start. Thanks for reading. jfi