Congress gave final approval Wednesday to a $105 billion bill aimed at expanding the number of air traffic controllers, adding more safety inspectors at aircraft factories and requiring airlines to automatically pay refunds to travelers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed.
The House approved the measure to reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration programs by a margin of 387-26 and sent it to President Joe Biden. The Senate passed the measure last week.
Supporters called the legislation’s provisions an important step in improving aviation safety after a number of close calls between planes at U.S. airports over the past two years.
“This bill recognizes that while our aviation system is safe, we must continue to raise the bar for safety,” said Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, which drafted the first version of the legislation . past.
Republicans and Democrats, who lead the key aviation committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate, negotiated the bill’s final form last month, then opposed amendments that could have delayed the measure’s passage.
One of the most controversial issues proved to be the addition of ten long-haul flights per day to and from Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC. Lawmakers from Virginia and Maryland tried to kill the provision.
Rep. Donald Beyer, D-Va., said the additional flights would “exacerbate dangerous conditions” and cause more flight delays at the busy airport across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital. But lawmakers from Western states, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, fought for the flights, as did Delta Air Lines.
The final version of the law that authorizes the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board programs for the next five years runs to more than a thousand pages. Congress has criticized the FAA since it approved Boeing 737 Max jets involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Key provisions of the bill include directing the FAA to hire more air traffic controllers and safety inspectors, increasing the use of collision avoidance technology at airports and improving access for passengers with disabilities.
It also bans airlines from charging fees to seat families together and requires them to issue automatic refunds when flights are canceled or delayed by several hours.
Airlines are suing the Biden administration to block a new Department of Transportation rule on automatic refunds, and including the provision in law could help the administration’s lawsuit. Graves said the issue could lead to higher fares or refunds for travelers who would prefer to be booked on another flight, but it did not stop him from supporting the bill.
