The Senate passed legislation Thursday to reauthorize federal aviation programs for the next five years and put in place new safety and consumer protection measures for passengers, at a time of intense uncertainty and disruption in the air travel system.
The bill, which still needs to win final House approval before becoming law, would provide more than $105 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration and another $738 million to the National Transportation Safety Board for airport modernization, technology programs and safety . It would also strengthen the hiring and training of air traffic controllers, codify airlines’ reimbursement obligations to passengers, guarantee free seating for families and strengthen protections for passengers with disabilities.
“Aviation safety has been front and center for millions of Americans recently, and this FAA bill is the best thing Congress can do to give Americans the peace of mind they deserve,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, Majority Leader. Senate hearing on Thursday evening.
It passed with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 88 to 4, just one day before the current law was scheduled to expire. But it’s unclear whether senators will be able to reach an agreement to briefly extend the current law until next week to give the House time to consider the bill.
The legislation is a bipartisan compromise negotiated over months by Senate and House committees with jurisdiction over the FAA, after Congress authorized several short-term extensions of the agency when the legislation failed to meet previous deadlines. The House passed its version of the bill nearly a year ago by a lopsided vote of 351-69.
Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, chairwoman of the Commerce Committee, celebrated on the House floor after passage the bill’s provisions on consumer protection, aviation safety, air traffic controllers, airport infrastructure and community development. workforce.
“This is a great moment for aviation,” Ms. Cantwell said. “We have had safety issues and concerns where we have to make a big investment. This legislation is that investment – in safety standards, consumer protection, and the advancement of workforce and technology that will allow the United States to be the gold standard in aviation.”
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, said: “This legislation is a strong, bipartisan, bicameral bill that includes hundreds of priorities for senators and representatives, both Republicans and Democrats. “This bill gives the FAA the security tools it needs at a critical time.”
As one of the few remaining bills considered a must-pass item this year, the FAA package, which has provoked several regional controversies, has become a magnet for dozens of amendments and political knights who threatened to delay it in the Senate.
With legislation threatening to stall, the House on Wednesday approved a one-week extension for the FAA before leaving Washington for the weekend. The Senate was still working Thursday to pass that stopgap measure to give the House time to take up and pass the long-term package next week, a step that would send it to President Biden.
But lingering controversies threatened to scuttle that effort, meaning the FAA law could lapse for a short time. Air travel would not stop for a period of time, but the FAA would have to freeze some agency activities such as air traffic controller training and infrastructure upgrades.
The debate comes at a time of acute uncertainty over the airline system, which has recently had a series of troubling incidents such as dangerous near-collisions on runways, plane malfunctions and thousands of flight delays and cancellations.
It was unclear for much of Thursday whether the Senate would be able to pass the legislation, as senators called for votes on amendments or threatened to block quick passage. In the end, no amendment was put to the vote.
The most intense regional battle was over a provision in the bill to that effect add five long-haul return flights from Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington. Backers, including Delta Air Lines, have said they want to expand access to the nation’s capital and increase competition.
The proposal incensed representatives representing the area, who argued that the airport maintains the busiest runway in the country and cannot support additional flights. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia and Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, all Democrats, tabled an amendment to strike new flights.
Mr. Kaine and Mr. Warner threatened to suspend the bill if they did not receive a vote. But Cruz blocked an attempt to table a compromise amendment that would have given the transportation minister the final say on new flights after considering any effects they would have on delays and passenger safety.
“The Senate has abdicated its responsibility to protect the safety of the 25 million people who fly through DCA each year,” Kaine and Warner said in a statement. “Some of our colleagues were too scared to let the experts make the call. They didn’t want to show the American people that they care more about some lawmakers’ desire for direct flights than about the safety and convenience of travelers. This is shameful and embarrassing.”
Senators from Virginia and Maryland were the only votes against the bill.
Another group of senators failed to get a vote on a proposal to stop the Transportation Security Administration’s expansion of facial technology at airports and limit it where it is in use.
Senators had also proposed adding a number of unrelated bills, including one that would compensate people harmed by exposure to the nation’s nuclear weapons program, legislation to fully fund the replacement of the collapsed Francis Key Scott Bridge in Baltimore, a competition on credit cards a measure and a bill to protect minors online. None of them made it to the final product.
