Senate passes bill improving air safety and service for travelers, a day before FAA law expires

WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed a $105 billion bill aimed at improving air safety and customer service for air travelers, a day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires.

The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports, would increase the number of air traffic controllers, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flights are delayed or canceled.

It passed the Senate 88-4. The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives, which is out of session until next week. The Senate is considering a one-week extension, which would give the House of Representatives time to pass the bill while ensuring the FAA is not forced to lay off approximately 3,600 FAA employees.

The bill stalled for several days this week after senators from Virginia and Maryland objected to a provision that would allow 10 additional flights a day to and from the busy Reagan Washington National Airport. Other senators have also tried to add unrelated provisions, seeing this as an excellent opportunity to implement their legislative priorities.

But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a vote Thursday evening after it became clear senators would not be able to agree on changes to the bill before it expires. After the bill passed, leaders of both parties were still trying to figure out how to pass an extension and ensure it wouldn’t expire Friday. The House of Representatives approved a one-week extension earlier this week.

The FAA has been under scrutiny since it approved Boeing planes involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. The Senate legislation would govern FAA operations for the next five years and implement several new safety standards.

The bill would increase the number of air traffic controllers and require the FAA to use new technology designed to prevent collisions between aircraft on runways. It would require new airliners to have cockpit voice recorders that can store 25 hours of audio, up from the current two hours, to help investigators.

It would also seek to improve customer service for flyers by requiring airlines to refund customers for flight delays: three hours for a domestic flight and six hours for an international flight. Lawmakers amended the bill this week to make it even easier for customers to receive refunds, revising language that would have placed most of the onus on the customer for requesting them. The change brings the Senate bill more in line with new regulations President Joe Biden’s administration issued last week.

In addition, the bill would ban airlines from charging extra fees for families seated together and triple maximum fines for airlines that violate consumer laws. And it would require the Transportation Department to create a “dashboard” so consumers can compare seat sizes across different airlines.

The FAA says that when the law expires Friday, its 3,600 workers will be laid off starting at midnight with no guarantee of back pay. The agency would also be unable to collect the daily airport fees that help pay for operations, and ongoing improvements to the airport would grind to a halt.

No one in “safety-critical” positions — such as air traffic controllers — would be affected if the deadline is missed, the FAA says, and the safety of the flying public would not be at risk.

Still, the failure to pass the popular, bipartisan bill on May 10 would be the latest setback after months of delays on the measure, and another example of Congress’s struggle to pass major legislation even when it has broad support.

At the opening of the Senate on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged senators to reach an agreement quickly. “Absolutely no one should want us to miss the deadline because that would unnecessarily increase the risks for so many travelers and so many federal employees,” he said.

Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, had pushed for a vote on their amendment to block the additional long-haul flights at Reagan National in Virginia. They say the airport is limited in size and already overcrowded, pointing to a close call there between two planes earlier in April that they said was a “flashing red warning light.”

Several Western lawmakers have called for more flights at the airport, saying it is unfair to consumers to restrict long-haul flights. The provision’s leading 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 bring it up shortly before final passage.

Airlines are also divided on the idea of ​​additional flights at Reagan National. Delta Airlines has called for more flights, while United Airlines, with a major operation at the more distant Dulles Airport, has lobbied against the increase.

The House of Representatives passed its own version of the FAA legislation last year without additional Reagan National flights, after intense, last-minute lobbying from the Virginia delegation — a bipartisan vote on an amendment to the FAA bill in which members did not unite by party, but by geographical location. Lawmakers use the airport frequently because it is Washington’s closest airport to the Capitol, and Congress has long tried to have a say in what routes are offered there.

“Some of our colleagues were too scared to make the calls to the experts,” Kaine and Warner said in a statement Thursday evening. “They did not 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. That is shameful and a disgrace.”