The House today passed a major bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration for five years and providing $105 billion in funding for agency programs as well as $738 million for the National Transportation Safety Board.
The bill, which covers fiscal years 2024 through 2028, had cleared the Senate last week, so the House’s bipartisan 387-26 vote sends the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk. Lawmakers were facing a Friday deadline, with the latest of four short-term extensions of FAA authorization due to expire then.
The bill aims to make air travel safer and provide stronger protections for passengers while also investing in infrastructure and aviation technology. As a reminder, the $105 billion in authorized appropriations include:
* $66.7 billion to fund safety programs and the hiring, training and retention of staff, including some 3,000 new air traffic controllers and technical engineers;
* $17.8 billion for FAA facilities and equipment;
* $19.35 billion for airport infrastructure improvement grants; and
* $1.59 billion for FAA research, engineering and development.
What’s next: After a somewhat turbulent path to reauthorization, passage of the bill means that Congress has cleared all must-pass legislation until the fall, when the government will again need to be funded. In the short term, that means election season is now in full swing and messaging bills on hot-button issues will dominate lawmakers’ agenda.
