Congress passed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Bill late Monday, and a local airport spokeswoman said that is welcome news for the aviation industry.
“We are pleased to see our elected officials in Washington working together to restore stability to the national aviation system by passing this multiyear FAA Reauthorization Bill,” Christina Siebold said in an email.
The next step is for President Barack Obama to sign the bill, which is meant to quicken the switch from radar to a GPS technology-based air traffic control system, according to The Associated Press.
The bill requires that the FAA develop a new arrival procedure at the nation’s 35 busiest airports so that planes can land using GPS navigation.
Siebold said that, at major hubs, having too many planes in the sky causes air traffic control delays.
Planes are forced to circle the airport before landing—which burns expensive fuel and increases the industry’s carbon footprint—and are also delayed from taking off.
The passage of the bill addresses these problems, she said.
“A modernized, satellite-based system will better meet the current demand, as well as address future growing demand within the aviation system,” she said.
According to The Associated Press, eventually FAA officials want aircraft operators to install onboard satellite technology that updates the location of planes every second instead of radar's every six to 12 seconds.
That would enable pilots to tell not only the location of their plane, but other planes equipped with the new technology as well, which isn't currently possible.
With the passage, lawmakers authorized $63.4 billion for the FAA over a four-year period. The bill includes authorization of about $11 billion toward the modernization of the air traffic control system, the AP also reported.
The authorization of the bill also provides stability for airport infrastructure projects, Siebold said.
“At many airports across the country, including [Chattanooga], we receive no city or county funding,” she said. “Our operating funds are managed just as any business—we must be completely self-sustaining."
The FAA collects a ticket tax on airline tickets and redistributes those funds to airports for safety and security-related projects.
Because the FAA has not reauthorized the bill in five years—a period that included 23 temporary extensions and one FAA shutdown—funding for airport infrastructure projects has been threatened, and some projects have been in limbo, Siebold said.
“The bill is lengthy and contains many provisions that we are still reviewing, so there could be additional impacts,” she also said.
In other airport news, a Georgia leader said that area residents should be open to the idea of Chattanooga's airport becoming "Atlanta's second airport," also according to the AP.
