Obama Signs FAA Funding Bill

President Obama signed a $63.6 billion funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration Feb. 14, bringing to an end a years-long fight over aviation funding that became engulfed in labor disputes.

The bill comes after 23 funding extensions and a two-week partial shutdown of the FAA in the summer and follows years of temporary funding extensions to keep the FAA running, while disputes over spending, labor rules and safety issues were a near constant.

The four-year funding bill includes an extra $6 million for Hawaii's airports.

The bill will also make it harder for workers to form a union. The FAA Reauthorization Act, passed Congress last week despite an outcry from major unions.

With long-term federal commitments in place, aviation experts say the pace of progress toward a new $42 billion system that could revolutionize air travel should quicken.

Airlines that are expected to invest up to $10 billion of their own in the complex navigation system known as NextGen were reluctant to commit as the FAA lurched from one short-term to funding extension to the next since the last long-term bill expired in 2007, the Washington Post reported.

"The airlines worried that without the certainty of long-term federal funding, the intricate new system might not be ready for use once they equipped their planes with the required technology," the newspaper reported.

"This critical effort to shift from our antiquated air traffic control technology to a GPS-based system will improve air traffic efficiency and safety, reduce fuel burn and pollution from aircraft, and bring costs down for consumers," said House Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.).

The new bill also will provide funds for a critical element on the NextGen program: retraining of air traffic controllers in a system far different than the 60-year-old one now in use. NextGen is seen as essential in keeping the U.S. industry competitive with its foreign counterparts and preparing for a projected huge increase in air travel in the next four decades.

It will be partially paid for by a $100 take off fee on all turbine and jet aircraft in Obama's proposed 2013 budget, one that most Congressmen say has little chance of passing.

"This four-year bill will provide the funding stability we need to develop and train our next generation of controllers, along with the next generation of equipment and procedures," said Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

"It also ensures that the controllers and technicians who use this equipment and procedures every day will continue to be involved in their development."