FAA Authorization Extended Once Again

With the current extension expiring on April 30, Congress has passed and President Obama has signed the twelfth extension of authorization for federal aviation programs, lasting this time until July 2. House and Senate negotiators continue to work on reconciling the different versions of FAA reauthorization legislation they passed previously. The House passed a four year authorization back in July 2009, while the Senate more recently passed a two year bill.  Both bills include Airport Improvement Program funding at approximately $4 billion per year, up from the current $3.5 billion level. The House bill allows all airports to increase the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) from $4.50 to $7.00, which is estimated to generate $1billion per year in additional revenue for airport infrastructure investment. The Senate bill would only allow six airports (to be determined in the future) to raise the PFC to $7.00. AGC is working in support of allowing the PFC ceiling to increase for all airports to $7.00.