In Shutdown's Wake, Industry Unites on FAA Funding Bill

Congressional passage of a full Fiscal Year 2019 funding bill for most government agencies, including the FAA, in mid-February came as welcome news to industry. But the preceding 35-day government shutdown and the threat of a repeat that followed in the subsequent days has “galvanized” an industry that just last year was sharply divided on funding of the air traffic control organization.

Congressional approval of the funding package, which included $17.5 billion for the FAA, came as a stopgap funding measure was set to expire on February 15. The stopgap ended the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history on January 25.

But the shutdown had a hefty toll, particularly on the estimated 800,000 workers that went without pay for several weeks, and had ramifications that reverberated throughout the aviation industry.

Industry Presents United Front

In the wake of the shutdown, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and aviation subcommittee head Rick Larsen (D-Washington) introduced legislation to shield FAA programs and personnel from future government shutdowns. The legislation would enable the FAA to continue to receive funding from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) and continue operating at current funding levels in the event of another government shutdown.

The bill, H.R.1108, would ensure FAA programs continue uninterrupted and that FAA employees are paid. Funded through the aviation excise taxes—including the passenger ticket tax, fuel taxes, and cargo taxes—the AATF generates enough revenue to cover the FAA’s activities even if the general government funding should temporarily lapse.

“The U.S. aviation system is the safest, busiest, most complex aviation system in the world—a system that was seriously jeopardized by the absurd 35-day government shutdown,” DeFazio said in introducing the bill. “This must not happen again. The users of the National Airspace System pay for the system and deserve for it to function without interruption.”

Larsen added, “Allowing the FAA to draw from the AATF during a funding lapse will ensure essential personnel who work under immensely stressful situations continue to get paid, and that the largest, busiest, and most complex airspace system in the world remains safe for passengers and employees.”

That bill has won the backing of some 40 organizations, bringing them together as they haven’t in a long while, signers agreed. “The effect on the nation’s air transportation system and the workers charged with keeping the system safe was dramatic,” the letter stated of the recent shutdown. “We find this situation to be unacceptable and we want to work with Congress and the Administration to prevent this from ever happening again.”

Testifying before the aviation subcommittee hearing on the ramifications of the most recent shutdown, General Aviation Manufacturers Association president and CEO Pete Bunce told lawmakers he hasn’t seen the industry as united as strongly on an issue as it has on H.R.1108. Bunce added that the letter might have had more signatories, but leaders wanted to ensure it got to Congress ahead of the day’s hearing. Airlines for America president and CEO Nicholas Calio expressed similar sentiments, saying the issue has “galvanized the industry. We have come together.”

During the hearing, Bunce and Calio joined several other industry leaders who went into depth on some of the ramifications of the shutdown. Bunce noted one manufacturer had weighed furloughs because it couldn’t get FAA flight-test personnel in on its flight-test program. A Louisiana company had four helicopter deliveries held up by the inability to get the appropriate signoffs, and as of mid-February those deliveries still hadn’t been completed. A major manufacturer was experiencing roughly a $10 million monthly burn rate on certification delays. He explained that even though the furlough was 35 days, it would take much longer to get back into the queue for certification inspections. In fact, Bunce said estimates are the recovery takes three to four weeks for every one week of shutdown.

Calio, meanwhile, pointed to estimates ranging from $15 million and $25 million of losses various airlines incurred from lost flights and delays in deliveries, among other issues that cropped up. But he expressed concern that the most significant ramification was the stress on the unpaid workers.

National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Paul Rinaldi reiterated the stress and exhaustion that the controllers experienced during the shutdown, particularly younger ones who had to find other means of income. The shutdown had ripple effects throughout the system, Rinaldi agreed.

Mike Perrone, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, discussed the hit to morale his members took as they were told they weren’t essential personnel. He agreed that these members—the specialists who maintain the ATC system and provide oversight of the industry—are highly trained people with technical backgrounds who could be lured into private-sector jobs.

On the front line, flight attendants saw first-hand concerns throughout the system that the strains could degrade safety and security, said Sara Nelson, international president, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

But when asked if any flight took off that wasn’t safe as a result of the shutdown, the leaders agreed that was not the case.

Future Funding

As for the funding bill passed in mid-February, Congress set aside $17.5 billion for the FAA's FY2019 budget, a $549 million drop from FY2018 but $1.3 billion more than the administration request. The funding includes an additional $500 million bump for Airport Improvement Program grants. All but about $580 million of the FAA’s $10.4 billion operations budget will come from the Airport and Airways Trust Fund. The bill provides funding for unmanned research and integration, in addition to numerous other research projects such as on advanced materials, additive manufacturing, and environmental sustainability efforts.

As in past years, Congress included measures to protect aircraft operator privacy from real-time flight-tracking programs and to retain the weight limitation at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Further, Congress included protections of the contract tower program from the budget whims of the administration and provided money for expansion of remote tower technologies.

Other measures are designed to ensure fuller use of organization delegation authorization and to provide up to $3.5 million for reimbursement of non-gateway airports affected by temporary flight restrictions involving travel to the President’s “residences.” This measure was particularly aimed at the airports shuttered by the ongoing series of TFRs in New Jersey and Florida.

National Air Transportation Association president Gary Dempsey said the passage of the funding bill, a result of a compromise among Washington leaders, recognizes “the importance of continued, dependable funding for FAA operations. This is a welcome first step toward implementing the FAA Reauthorization bill passed last October.” This was particularly key as NATA and other industry stakeholders move forward on workforce development issues, he added.