NATA Praises House Passage of Compromise FAA Reauthorization Legislation

The United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 302, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The legislation, a collaborative effort by House and Senate transportation leaders, reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years and provides $96.7 billion in funding. The House will also approve a one-week extension to allow the Senate more time to consider and pass the compromise legislation. Current authorization expires September 30th. The Senate will then approve the extension and consider H.R. 302 soon. The following is a statement by NATA President Gary Dempsey: 

“The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) praises House transportation leaders - Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) - and their staffs for their hard work and dedication to producing a legislative package that supports the needs of the aviation business community and provides long-term funding for the agency.

“The legislation contains many provisions that support the needs of the aviation business community, including regulatory consistency, safety provisions that improve the quality of Part 135 incident reporting data and call for a review of permissible flight sharing, and programs to promote the aviation workforce by supporting the next generation of aviation maintenance technicians. NATA is especially grateful for the inclusion of language that calls for a review and report of the Illegal Charter Hotline and recommendations for improving the Department of Transportation’s efforts to combat the issue. 

“While the journey to consideration and passage has been long, the collaboration and hard work between Capitol Hill and industry is reflected in this comprehensive bill. NATA looks forward to its consideration and passage in the Senate, and enactment into law.”

An analysis of the bipartisan compromise legislation can be found here.