FAA reauthorization bill focuses on safety, infrastructure

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 3/1/1999

It could be a close call. With less than seven weeks to go before the current authorization expires, Department of Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater and Federal Aviation Administrator Jane F. Garvey in early February introduced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Authorization Act of 1999. Slater and Garvey will have to move fast to push their replacement legislation through Congress before the current authorization expires.

For Fiscal Year (FY) 2000, the bill asks for $2.3 billion for facilities and equipment; $173 million for research, engineering, and development; $6 billion for FAA operations; and $1.6 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The House already has approved legislation to reauthorize the agency through Sept. 30, while the Senate Commerce Committee has sent a bill to the full Senate that would extend authorization through next year.

The proposal is organized around four main objectives: improving safety and efficiency, expanding system capacity, enhancing competition and access, and improving rural air service. A number of measures in the bill address those objectives, including:

* A 7.0-percent increase in aviation-safety funding, which includes the establishment of a university aviation-research consortium. That would bring total annual investments in safety improvements to $1 billion, according to Slater. This and other measures, says Garvey, would provide the tools needed to fulfill the terms of the FAA's ambitious Aviation Safety Agenda announced last year.

* A reorganization of the FAA's air-traffic control operation as a "Performance-Based Organization (PBO)," effective Jan. 1, 2000. The PBO designation is intended to make the air-traffic control system more efficient by giving managers more freedom of action while establishing new sources of funding--in this case, through a fee for service. According to the FAA, "air traffic would not be restrained by rules that may apply to other areas of the FAA that are unrelated to air-traffic control"--a reference to ongoing problems with procurement and other administrative functions. Slater and Garvey would retain overall responsibility for aviation safety and security.

* More airport capacity, to be funded by increases in the AIP and authority for individual airports to raise the $3 Passenger Facility Charge by up to $2.

* The lifting of some restrictions on airlines' access to major airports, due to the increased use of quieter aircraft and better air-traffic control procedures.

* Increased funding earmarked for improvements at rural airports, including a grant program to help airports attract new service.

At a press conference announcing the proposed legislation, Vice President Al Gore laid heavy emphasis on safety issues. "The proposed legislation reaffirms our commitment to improving airline safety," he said, "by providing the funding and management mechanisms necessary for new infrastructure investments."