The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on Sept.
28 to extend federal aviation funding until March 2016; the funding would have
otherwise expired on Sept. 30.
The measure, introduced Sept. 25 by Bill Shuster (R-Pa.),
chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will continue
funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which includes air
traffic control systems, through March 31, 2016.
U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow applauded the passage
of the Airport and Airway Extension Act, but warned that temporarily applying
“Band-Aids” to our aviation system is not good policy.
"Congress as a whole needs a new approach to
transportation policy,” Dow said in a statement. "We cannot continually
apply a Band-Aid to an air travel system that is hemorrhaging dollars for the
U.S. economy. In 2013 alone, passengers avoided 38 million trips due to
infrastructure-related flying hassles, costing the economy more than $35
billion.”
The current FAA budget authorization was introduced in 2007
but was not passed until 2012, after five years and 23 short-term FAA operating
extensions, a record.
Dow said the impending FAA reauthorization represents
"an opportunity to bolster and revitalize passenger air travel in this
country, but only if the measure takes a comprehensive approach to the problems
in the system. A transformational bill will only live up to its name if it
improves the weakest links in the system, tackling infrastructure and fostering
choice for travelers by restoring air travel competition."