Liam Conner
The Senate approved a $105 billion bill aimed at improving airline safety and customer service for air travelers, one day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires.
The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of closed calls between planes at the country’s airports, would increase the number of air traffic controllers, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flight delays or cancellations.
It passed the Senate 88-4. The legislation now heads to the House, which is out of session until next week. The Senate also approved a one-week extension that would give the House time to pass the bill while ensuring the FAA would not be forced to lay off about 3,600 employees.
The project was stalled for several days this week after senators from Virginia and Maryland opposed a provision that would allow 10 additional flights per day to and from the highly busy Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Other senators also tried to add unrelated provisions, seeing this as an excellent opportunity to enact their legislative priorities.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a vote Thursday night after it became clear that senators would not be able to agree on amendments to the bill before it expired. After the bill passed, leaders from both parties decided how to pass an extension and ensure the law does not expire on Friday. The House approved a one-week extension earlier this week.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The FAA is under scrutiny since approving Boeing jets that were involved in two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. The Senate legislation would govern FAA operations for the next five years and establish several new safety standards.
What’s in the account
The bill would increase the number of air traffic controllers and require the FAA to use new technologies designed to prevent collisions between planes on runways. New planes would be required to have cockpit voice recorders capable of saving 25 hours of audio, up from the current two hours, to help investigators.
It would also try to improve customer service for passengers by requiring airlines to pay customers a refund for flight delays – three hours for a domestic flight and six for an international flight. Lawmakers tweaked the bill this week to make it even easier for customers to receive refunds, revising language that would have placed most of the burden on the customer to request them. The change brought the Senate bill more in line with new regulations issued by President Biden’s administration last week.
Additionally, the bill would prohibit airlines from charging additional fees for families to sit together and would triple the maximum fines for airlines that violate consumer laws. And it would require the Department of Transportation to create a “dashboard” so consumers can compare seat sizes on different airlines.
The FAA said that if the law expired on Friday, the 3,600 employees would be laid off with no guarantee of back pay starting at midnight. The agency would also not be able to collect daily airport fees that help pay for operations, and ongoing airport improvements would be halted.
No one in “safety-critical” positions — such as air traffic controllers — would be affected if the deadline was missed, the FAA said, and the safety of the flying public would not be at risk.
Still, the failure to pass the popular bipartisan bill by May 10 marked the latest setback after months of delays on the measure, and another example of how Congress struggles to pass important legislation even when it has broad support.
Opening the Senate on Thursday, Schumer called on senators to reach a deal soon.
“Absolutely no one should want us to go over the deadline because that would unnecessarily increase the risks for so many travelers and so many federal employees,” he said.
What led to the delay in Senate approval
Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, pushed for a vote on their amendment to block additional long-haul flights at Reagan National in Virginia. They say the airport is size restricted and already very busy, pointing to a crash between two planes in early April that they said was a “flashing red warning light.”
Several Western lawmakers have advocated for more flights at the airport, saying it is unfair to consumers for there to be a restriction on long-haul flights. The provision’s main proponent is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, who has argued that San Antonio should have a direct flight from the airport. Cruz blocked a vote on Kaine and Warner’s amendment when Schumer tried to introduce it shortly before final approval.
Airlines are also divided on the idea of additional flights at Reagan National. Delta Airlines advocated for more flights, while United Airlines, with a large operation at more distant Dulles Airport, lobbied against the increase.
The House last year passed its own version of FAA legislation without additional flights from Reagan National, after intense last-minute lobbying from the Virginia delegation – a bipartisan vote on an amendment to the FAA bill that saw members fall in line – if not by party, but by geographic location.
Lawmakers use the airport frequently, as it is the closest Washington airport to the Capitol, and Congress has long tried to have a say in which routes serve there.
“Some of our colleagues were too afraid to let the experts make the decision,” Kaine and Warner said in a statement Thursday night. “They didn’t want to show the American people that they care more about some lawmakers’ desire for direct flights than they do about the safety and convenience of the traveling public. This is shameful and embarrassing.”
