On January 31, 2012, House and Senate leadership reached an agreement on a bill (the “Bill”) to provide operating authority for the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) over the next four years and boost its air traffic modernization efforts. The Bill authorizes $63 billion for the FAA to operate through the 2015 fiscal year. This agreement comes after a five year stalemate between Congressional leaders, during which time the FAA operated under 23 short-term extensions. Final votes and passage of the Bill by the House and Senate is expected sometime in the next two weeks.
The Bill features several key compromises from lawmakers including;
(1) Appropriating approximately $1 billion a year in funding for the FAA’s Next Generation air traffic program, which will allow the FAA to update its current WWII-era technology to a GPS based system;
(2) Reducing funding by $20 million a year for the Essential Air Service Program which subsidizes air service to rural communities. Subsidies for service to communities that are within 175 miles of a hub airport and average less than 10 passengers a day over the course of a year would lose service. If that rule were applied today, about a dozen communities would lose subsidized service.
(3) Strengthening shipping requirements for lithium batteries by requiring that the Department of Transportation follow the same safety standards for the shipment of lithium batteries by air as those set by the International Civil Aviation Organization; and
(4) Authorizing slots for eight additional round-trip, beyond perimeter long-distance flights from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (“DCA”). These slots will likely improve access to DCA for communities in Western states.
More information about the proposed legislation can be found at http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1514. For further information or questions regarding the changes in FAA operating procedures pending the passage of this legislation, contact Glenn Wicks or Ronce Almond at (202) 457-7790.