US Senate and House committees reach agreement on final US FAA reauthorisation bill

US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure reached (29-Apr-2024) an agreement on a final, bipartisan US FAA reauthorisation bill. The five year bill includes funding to mitigate runway incidents and maintains the current mandatory pilot retirement age of 65 years. The legislation will boost air traffic controller staffing by enforcing minimum hiring standards to be set by US FAA administrator Michael Whitaker. The legislation will be put forward to the Senate in the coming days. The committees stated: "Now more than ever, the FAA needs strong and decisive direction from Congress to ensure America's aviation system maintains its gold standard". [more - original PR]