After Months of Rancor, FAA Bill Passes With Huge Support

The U.S. House of Representatives in late April overwhelmingly approved a revised version of the comprehensive, five-year FAA reauthorization bill, clearing a major hurdle for its ultimate passage. The 393-13 vote underscored the bipartisan cooperation achieved after a previous version had been held up for months over a controversial provision to carve the air traffic control organization out of the FAA.

The new version of the bill, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R.4), passed on April 27 without that provision. The architect of the independent ATC measure, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania), earlier this year agreed to withdraw the measure in an effort to end the stalemate over the bill. And the stalemate did end: the legislation was the first long-term FAA reauthorization bill to pass the House since 2012.

“While I would have liked this bill to have included the significant reforms to the management of the nation’s air traffic control system I proposed in earlier legislation, H.R.4 does include many other important reforms that will help job creators lead in a competitive global marketplace for aviation, improve our airport infrastructure in large, small, and rural communities, and improve air travel for millions of Americans,” Shuster said.

While the bill is revised to account for the shelving of the ATC provision, H.R.4 contained many of measures included in the original House FAA reauthorization bill introduced last year. These measure touch upon everything from certification reforms and a review of supersonic operations limitations to facilitation of unmanned systems into the airspace and a directive for FAA to clarify its policies on flight-sharing. H.R.4 also was packaged with the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), which is designed to help communities to prepare for and respond to disasters.

House lawmakers adopted close to 100 amendments to the bill, addressing myriad noise, consumer protection, safety, and other concerns. Among these was an Age 70 limit that primarily affects NetJets pilots. Other amendments included a pilot program that would prioritize certain equipped aircraft at certain airports and facilitate certain non-commercial Stage 2 aircraft operations at less busy airports and a government-watchdog study on the effectiveness of FAA’s Compliance Philosophy.

Controversial Amendments Cut

In an effort to help ease its passage, House leaders kept out more controversial amendments. These included one offered by Shuster himself to create an Aerospace Management Advisory Council to steer the ATC system within the FAA. That amendment drew an outcry from the general aviation community.

Ed Bolen, president and CEO of NBAA, called the measure a “thinly disguised attempt to give control of the system to the big airlines.” NATA said the amendment represents the first step in the direction of privatization, impeding “the achievement of our collective goals of supporting modernization and FAA reform, and advancing the safety of the National Airspace System.” GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce, meanwhile, called the measure “a real threat.”

Upon learning of the amendment, GA groups waged an all-out lobbying campaign to prevent it from moving forward. They issued calls-to-action to their members, urging them to weigh in with local lawmakers.

Shuster instead agreed to significantly revise the language, leaving a measure that would create a chief technology officer position to work with the COO on ATC management. The committee chairman had called the advisory council a “modest reform” and stressed, “This is not a privatization bill…nothing is being taken out of the FAA.” But he said the advisory council was dropped after “we heard from folks in the community.”

While he agreed to remove the measure, Shuster reiterated that he “strongly believe[s] Congress must pass real air traffic control reform” and that he sees that happening “somewhere down the line.”

“Once our members weighed in to express their opposition to the amendment, we had a constructive dialogue and we are grateful that chairman Shuster withdrew the most troubling language,” said Jim Coon, AOPA senior v-p of government affairs.

Also scuttled—before it even reached the public amendment stage—was a proposal to dramatically boost the tax on non-commercial jet fuel, from 24 cents per gallon to 88 cents per gallon. Several other controversial measures were prevented from moving forward, including those designed to ease the path to more aircraft restrictions at Santa Monica Airport in California and to permit general aviation airports to restrict the number and type of aircraft operations for compensation or hire.

In all, more than 200 amendments were filed, but only about half were allowed to move forward and ultimately approved.

The bill would authorize a $3.35 billion airports budget each year through Fiscal Year 2023, scale up facilities and equipment funding to $3.26 billion in Fiscal Year 2023, and gradually increase the FAA’s operations account to as much as $11.329 billion by 2023 (about $1.1 billion more than Fiscal Year 2018 levels).

System Studies

While the legislation would not alter the ATC organizational structure, it does seek biennial studies on the costs incurred in air traffic services by each user segment. Such studies in the past have been used to justify proposed changes in the ATC organization and proposals to shift the amounts users pay into the system.

On the environmental front, the bill seeks a Government Accountability Office study of the benefits, costs, and other impacts of a phaseout of Stage 3 aircraft. GA operators, along with commercial operators, would be included in the study.

The bill further would call for a study on the potential health effects of aircraft noise, including sleep disturbance and elevated blood pressure. This study is to look at high-impact areas such as in California and New York. It further seeks community involvement in FAA NextGen projects in metroplexes. And it would facilitate use of unleaded aviation gasoline.

As for FAA certification reform, the bill would create an advisory committee to conduct a comprehensive review to advise on policies that are affecting certification. In addition, it would direct the FAA to establish performance objectives and track metrics related to aircraft certification activities and provide for fuller use of organization designation authorization. The bill seeks similar reforms for the FAA’s Flight Standards Service.

Along with certification reform within the U.S., the bill seeks to smooth the process for U.S. product validations internationally, directing the FAA to promote U.S. aerospace standards and easing the ability to accept foreign safety directives.

In addition to the broad reforms, the bill would seek a comprehensive reform and streamlining of Part 91 through the input of a government/industry task force. Noncommercial general aviation aircraft registration would be extended to 10 years and the aircraft registry would be shielded from closure during a government shutdown.

The bill looks to accommodate a number of new technologies through directives for studies, including on advanced cockpit displays such as synthetic and enhanced vision systems and on supersonic flight. In addition, provisions call for a joint research program with NASA on single-pilot cargo operations and for a new rule authorizing the carriage of property by small unmanned aircraft systems for compensation or hire. Also on the emerging technology front, the bill would establish a remote tower pilot program for rural and small communities.

Further, the bill has a section focused solely on unmanned operations and a roadmap for their safe integration into the National Airspace System.

In the safety arena the bill seeks to support voluntary safety disclosure programs for both operations and maintenance activities, and also would create a formal aviation rulemaking committee to develop recommendations for Part 135 flight and duty time regulations.

Several of the measures are aimed at workforce shortage issues, including a study on maintenance industry technician shortages, opportunities for women in aviation, and the aviation and aerospace workforce of the future.

Other measures seek clearer guidance on pilots sharing flight expenses with passengers (a more far-reaching amendment on this issue was dropped) and to permanently protect the privacy of operators who want to shield their registration number from real-time public flight tracking. Congress focuses on the growing concerns surrounding cybersecurity with a mandate to review FAA’s activities and plans in this arena. Among the many other provisions is a section on improving airline customer service.

“This FAA authorization is the culmination of years of hearings and listening sessions to solicit input from aviation stakeholders, commercial passengers, general aviation pilots, and our colleagues,” said Frank LoBiondo (R-New Jersey), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee. “In the truest sense, this legislation represents bipartisan cooperation and compromise to advance the nation’s aviation interests and safety in the skies.”

Rick Larsen (D-Washington), the ranking Democrat on the aviation committee, also expressed support for the bill, and said, “With this continued commitment to bipartisanship, the difference between the House and the Senate bills is now merely inches apart.”

Passage instantly drew praise from general aviation groups. “While the bill is not perfect, a long-term reauthorization is critical to advancing our shared priorities. Equally important, this bipartisan bill will modernize, not privatize, air traffic control,“ NBAA’s Bolen said. “We are grateful that members of Congress heard their constituents’ concerns about ATC privatization, and reflected those concerns in bringing this legislation to final passage.”

“This bill provides key provisions and language that improves safety, streamlines regulatory burdens, strengthens job creation, encourages competitiveness and innovation, and stimulates exports,” added Bunce.

NATA president Martin Hiller agreed. “The legislation contains many NATA-supported provisions that will improve safety and address the needs of aviation businesses across the country, including efforts to streamline certification and flight standards processes—as well as improve the consistency of FAA regulatory interpretations,” Hiller said. “We are also pleased by the inclusion of studies to assess the current state of, barriers to entry into, and options to increase the future supply of individuals in the aviation workforce.”

Bunce further encouraged the Senate to pass its FAA legislation expeditiously. The Senate must still pass its own version of FAA reauthorization. Senate Commerce Committee chairman John Thune (R-South Dakota) had indicated a desire to finish work on it before the August recess. But by early May the ultimate fate became less clear as rumors began to surface that this bill could become a victim of election-year politics and stumble in the Senate, setting the stage for yet another FAA extension.