"Without prompt action, the United States’ aviation system is headed toward gridlock shortly after the turn of the century. If this gridlock is allowed to happen, it will result in a deterioration of aviation safety, harm the efficiency and growth of our domestic economy, and hurt our position in the global marketplace. Lives may be endangered; the profitability and strength of the aviation sector could disappear; and jobs and business opportunities far beyond aviation could be foregone."

AIR 21 is a comprehensive 5-year authorization that will benefit all sectors of the airport and airway system.

Specifically:

For safety

• Provides substantially more money for runways and other equipment at airports that will enhance safety there;

• Ensures that FAA has the funding to hire and retain the air traffic controllers, maintenance technicians, and safety inspectors necessary for the safety of the aviation system;

• Increases the FAA’s facilities & equipment budget by 50% so that the agency can modernize our antiquated air traffic control system;

• Authorizes funding to improve the training of airport screeners;

• Makes runway incursion prevention devices and wind shear detection devices eligible for AIP funding;

• Requires cargo airlines to install collision avoidance systems on their aircraft;

• Provides whistleblower protection for both FAA and airline employees so they can reveal legitimate safety problems without fear of retaliation;

• Ensures that funding is available to raise safety standards at small airports.

For competition

• Provides substantially more money to build terminals, gates, taxiways, and other infrastructure to allow additional competition at airports;

• Abolishes slots at airports in Chicago and New York to permit new competition there;

• Requires medium and large hub airports to file a competition plan so that resources can be directed to those projects that will do the most to enhance competition.

For the environment

• Significantly increases the amount of money available for noise abatement projects;

• Creates a new environmental streamlining program similar to the one in TEA-21;

• Establishes a regulatory regime to quiet air tours over our national parks;

• Funds a program to encourage airports to use low-emission vehicles.

For small airports

• Triples the amount of the minimum entitlement for non-hub airports from $500 thousand to $1.5 million per year;

• For the first time, provides entitlement money for general aviation airports (this is based on their needs as set forth in FAA’s national plan of integrated airport systems (NPIAS) to a maximum of $200 thousand per year);

• Triples the small airport fund;

• Authorizes a contract tower cost sharing program so that small airports can get the benefits of air traffic control services;

• Creates a loan guarantee program to help airlines buy regional jets if they agree to use them to serve small airports;

• Creates a new funding program to help small underserved airports market and promote their air service.

For large airports

• Triples the amount of the annual passenger entitlement for primary airports (airports with 10,000 or more passengers per year);

• Lifts the $22 million cap on the amount of annual entitlement money that a large airport can receive;

• More than doubles the amount of entitlement money for cargo airports;

• Increases the discretionary fund so that FAA can fund many high- priority airport improvement projects;

• Protects funding for Letters of Intent (LOIs) and makes clear that it is not necessary that an airport assess a passenger facility charge (PFC) in order to get an LOI;

• Raises the cap on the PFC so that an airport has the flexibility to proceed on its own with those improvement projects that cannot be funded through the Federal Airport Improvement Program.

For pilots and passengers

• Reforms the management of the FAA’s air traffic control system by creating an oversight board similar to the one established in the recent IRS reform legislation;

• Strengthens the provisions of the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act that was created following the Valujet and TWA 800 crashes;

• For the first time, explicitly prohibits racial discrimination in air travel;

• Allows pilots to appeal an emergency revocation of their license to the safety board;

• Ensures that the taxes pilots and passengers pay will actually be used to fund the safety, security and infrastructure they need for a safe and expeditious journey.

Prepared by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Staff