FAA reauthorization bill needs attention early in this session

As we head into the thick of the presidential primary season, many are predicting that legislative accomplishments will be hard to come by in 2008. At the same time, it is nearly impossible to pick up a newspaper or watch television lately without seeing a report about flight delays. After a brutal summer, the Christmas/New Year holiday season was equally tough, with weather being a major factor.

Through November of last year, on-time performance by the major airlines was the second worst since the Department of Transportation (DOT) started keeping statistics in 1995. I believe that passing legislation to reauthorize the FAA and begin the process of modernizing our air transportation system is an issue that demands our immediate attention and is one that we should be able to enact into law.

This is possible because Congress has already spent a great deal of time on the topic and there is consensus on many of the issues involved. Over the last year, the House Aviation Subcommittee has conducted an extensive series of hearings as we considered the Bush administration’s proposal for FAA reauthorization. The House of Representatives in September passed legislation, H.R. 2881, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007, which lays out a blueprint for how to address the systemic problems that affect our air transportation system. The Senate has passed its version of the bill out of committee, but has yet to consider it on the Senate floor.

Across the aviation industry and in Congress, there is wide agreement that our air transportation system needs to make the transition to a satellite-based navigation system from a radar-based system. In addition, our airports need additional runways and other infrastructure improvements to handle the increasing number of air travelers, a number estimated to reach 1 billion annually by 2015. Enhanced technology will eventually allow more real-time information on the position of aircraft, allowing plans to fly closer together and more efficiently use our airspace.

Just as with other issues before Congress, the disagreement is over how to pay for these needs. While some are advocating a new user fee on general aviation flights, based on our hearings, there is wide agreement in the House that the current financing mechanism of aviation fuel taxes is working well and can handle the transition to the Next Generation Air Transportation System. H.R. 2881 contains modest increases in the aviation jet fuel rate and the aviation gas tax to bring in an additional $150 million a year to begin to fund the technological upgrades this transition will require. The critical hurdle right now is for the Senate to consider its bill so we can get to conference and reach a final agreement.

What are the costs of inaction? For one, air travelers, our constituents, are frustrated by flight delays. In the aftermath of several long tarmac delays one year ago, we heard increased calls for an Air Passengers’ Bill of Rights. H.R. 2881 addresses the problem of lengthy tarmac delays by requiring airlines and airports to file emergency contingency plans with the FAA detailing how they will make potable water, food, bathroom facilities, good ventilation, medical treatment and options for deplanement available when flights are delayed and stuck on the tarmac. These plans will be publicly available and fines will be levied if the plans are not filed and implemented.

Importantly, the House Aviation Subcommittee held three hearings in 2007 on aviation consumer issues, looking specifically at tarmac delays and congestion, and this attention spurred the airlines and Bush administration to act.

Several airlines hired more customer-relations staff and took precautions to avoid tarmac delays before the holiday travel season, and the FAA proposed many of the solutions in H.R. 2881 to deal with congestion and delays in the New York airspace, including forcing the airlines to schedule fewer flights at peak hours.

Ultimately, the longer it takes to get a final bill, the longer it will take to upgrade our system. While the transition from radar to satellites will be a 15- to 20-year process, H.R. 2881 increases the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) cap from $4.50 to $7, which will allow individual airports to collect more money for infrastructure improvements that will ease congestion.

Airports have the discretion to levy a PFC and to set its amount not to exceed $7. According to the FAA, if every airport currently collecting a $4 or $4.50 PFC raised its PFC to $7, it would generate approximately $1.1 billion in additional revenue for airport development each year. Our bill also provides significant increases in Airport Improvement Plan (AIP) funding for smaller airports, which are particularly reliant on the AIP for capital financing.

While there are some contentious issues to resolve, I believe we can reach final solutions and enact this important legislation. Improving our air transportation system will help maintain the safest air system in the world and our national economy. For all of these reasons, reauthorizing the FAA should be a top priority for the Congress in 2008.

Costello is chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee.

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