Team Blitz India
US House and Senate negotiators said on April 29 that they had reached a deal to boost air traffic controller staffing and funding to avert runway close-call incidents, but will not increase the airline pilot retirement age to 67 from 65.
The U.S. House of Representatives in last July voted 351-69 on a sweeping bill to reauthorise the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that would also raise the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 but the Senate Commerce Committee had voted in February to reject the retirement age increase. International rules would have prevented airline pilots older than 65 from flying in most countries outside the United States.
Congress has temporarily extended authorisation for the FAA through May 10 as it works on a new $105 billion, five-year deal. The Senate soon to vote on the more than 1,000-page bipartisan proposal.
The Bill prohibits airlines from charging fees for families to sit together and requires airlines to accept vouchers and credits for at least five years, but did not adopt many stricter consumer rules sought by the Biden administration.
The Bill also requires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices and directs the FAA to deploy advanced airport surface technology to help prevent collisions.
Efforts to boost aviation safety in the United States have taken on new urgency after a series of nearmiss incidents. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell, the panel’s top Republican, Ted Cruz, House Transportation Committee chair Sam Graves and the committee’s top Democrat, Rick Larsen, in a joint statement announced the agreement.
