Senate passes bill to reauthorize FAA and improve air travel

The Senate on Thursday approved legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) federal aviation programs for the next five years. and implement new safety and consumer protection measures for passengers, at a time of uncertainty and disruption in the air travel system.

The bill, which must be approved by the House of Representatives before being sent to President Biden for his signature, proposes increasing the staffing of air traffic controllers, increasing funding to prevent incidents on the runways and expedite refunds for canceled flights.

The measure that extends the mandate of the federal agency for five years and provides $105 billion dollars, reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration to operate.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the agency of the United States Department of Transportation that is responsible for the regulation and supervision of civil aviation within the US, as well as the operation and development of the National Airspace System. Its main mission is to guarantee the safety of civil aviation.

The bill prohibits airlines charge families fees for sitting togetherrequires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices and orders FAA to implement advanced airport surface technology to help prevent collisions.

The bill does not raise the mandatory retirement age for pilots to 67 yearsas lawmakers intended last year.

“Aviation safety has been a priority 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,” he said on the floor Thursday. Senate Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, majority leader.

After passing the legislation by a strong vote of 88 to 4, The Senate approved a one-week extension to ensure the law does not expire before the House considers the bill next week.

The FAA has said that he would have had to lay off about 3,600 workers if the law expired at midnight Friday.

The FAA has been under scrutiny since it approved Boeing planes that were involved in two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.

The Senate bill will govern FAA operations for the next five years and will establish several new safety standards.

Keep reading:

– FAA ends flight chaos after national failure and pressure from Biden
– Violence on airlines: the FAA wants to impose more than $500,000 in fines on undisciplined passengers
– Boeing in the crosshairs: three new aircraft incidents add more doubts about the company