Senate Advances FAA Reauthorization as Deadline Looms

The U.S. Senate is now one step closer to passing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) five-year reauthorization bill before the May 10 deadline.

Senators voted 84–13 on May 9 to invoke cloture, which limits the timeline for debate over amendments and moves the Senate closer to passing the 1,068-page aviation bill.

Now, senators have a chance to debate the legislation that would improve aircraft and airport safety, address the 3,000-person hiring shortage of air traffic controllers, and create standards for consumer refunds.

“We hope to get this done today to keep the FAA funded and operational before tomorrow’s deadline,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on May 9.

“The work we’re doing on FAA is going to have practical consequences for millions of Americans that travel by air every single day, so senators have every reason in the world to continue working on a bipartisan basis to get this done.”

The House voted on May 8 to extend the FAA deadline by a week, but the Senate must confirm the extension with unanimous consent to push back the May 10 cutoff.

However, two senators complicated the process early in the morning on May 9, stating that they would not approve an extension because they feared it would prevent discussion of key amendments.

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) created an amendment to strip from the FAA bill a provision that would add five round-trip flights to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington.

Both said the busy airport is overtaxed with traffic, particularly after two planes almost collided on its runway on April 18 after a miscommunication between air traffic controllers and the pilots.

Mr. Kaine and Mr. Warner worry approving the extension will give the Senate a chance to run out the clock without considering the various amendments proposed, including theirs.

“Last month’s near miss at DCA is a flashing red warning light that this airport is overburdened and that cramming more flights onto the busiest runway in America is a terrible idea,” Mr. Kaine and Mr. Warner wrote in a statement on May 9.

“We can’t, in good conscience, greenlight that plan until we have a commitment that there will be an opportunity to put our amendment to a vote and to persuade our colleagues to prioritize the safety of millions of passengers over a few senators’ desire for a direct flight home,” they added.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the top GOP negotiator for the FAA bill, supports adding flights to Reagan National due to the decades-old rule that limits outgoing flights from the airport to a 1,250-mile radius around Washington.

For example, residents of San Antonio, Texas, are required to go through Dallas Fort Worth International Airport instead, which Mr. Cruz noted while speaking with The Epoch Times.

The other option is to fly into Dulles International Airport, but it is further from the nation’s capital.

The senator also blamed United Airlines for lobbying against adding flights to Reagan National to retain a “monopoly” at Dulles International.

When asked for comment, United Airlines referred questions to the Coalition to Protect America’s Regional Airports.

Mr. Cruz told reporters on May 9 that allowing the amendment could “unravel” the entire FAA bill.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) does not believe the bill will get passed on May 9.

“I think we’re probably at a posture where we’re gonna either run down the clock or pass an extension,” he said to reporters on May 9, suggesting that a final vote will depend on how many objections senators make.

Mr. Schumer reiterated the dangers of failing to pass the bill before the deadline for FAA programs runs out.

“If we let funding for the FAA lapse, that could be disastrous for the safety of our skies and the efficiency of our airports.

“Thousands of employees might be furloughed, air traffic controllers would be forced to work longer and extra hours, [and] funding for infrastructure projects would be halted,” he said during a floor speech on May 9.

“So, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to continue working together so we can fund the FAA and avoid missing tomorrow’s deadline.”

Stacy Robinson contributed to this report.