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The flight disruptions prompted a rare act of bipartisanship during the record government shutdown that ended last week Washington On Tuesday, when congressional representatives from both parties introduced legislation that would allow air traffic controllers to be paid during future shutdowns.
The bill proposes to finance salaries, operating expenses and other Federal Aviation Administration The program uses an under-utilized flight insurance fund created after the September 11 attacks and currently holds $2.6 billion. The bill’s sponsors, including the top four republican And democrat The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hopes that relying on the fund could make their bill more attractive than other proposals because it would limit the potential cost of draining a paycheck.
The committee’s GOP chairman, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, said in a statement that the bill would help keep the traveling public safe during future shutdowns. Other sponsors include Democratic U.S. Reps. Rick Larson of Washington and Andre Carson of Indiana, as well as Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, who leads the aviation subcommittee.
“We all saw that the system can become unsafe at any time Congress can’t get their jobs done,” Graves said. “This bill guarantees that controllers, who have one of the most pressured jobs in the country, will be paid during any future funding lapses and that air traffic control, aviation safety, and the traveling public will never be negatively impacted by a shutdown.”
The bill has been introduced ahead of a hearing scheduled for Wednesday by a Senate subcommittee to examine the effects of the 43-day shutdown on aviation.
But it’s unclear whether this bill — or a similar proposal that has been floating around Congress since the 2019 shutdown — will have a chance at being approved before the next government funding deadline at the end of January. Nearly all other proposals, including that from U.S. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, would rely on an aviation trust fund that collects money from fees paid by airlines, and the Congressional Budget Office has given those bills a much higher price tag.
Reforms have been proposed, but none have been approved
Over the past few years, lawmakers have tried to enact some reforms as a long-term solution to keeping air traffic controllers and other essential aviation workers paid during funding shortfalls. The proposals often attracted bipartisan attention, especially after the 35-day shutdown that ended in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term, but none made it across the finish line.
For example, Moran’s bill, known as the Aviation Funding Stability Act, is a recurring proposal in Congress that would allow the FAA to tap into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Lawmakers from both houses have reintroduced versions of it over the years, including in 2019 and 2021.
The legislation resurfaced in March when Moran, the Republican chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation, put it forward. It resurfaced in September, a few weeks before the shutdown began, when Carson and U.S. Representative Steve Cohen, also a Democrat, introduced it in the House.
The new bill introduced Tuesday would cut off money if the insurance fund falls below $1 billion. But Transportation Committee staff estimate there will still be enough funding to keep the FAA running for four to six weeks.
Air traffic controllers spread thin during shutdown
The issue gets so much attention because of all the flight delays and cancellations that occur during the shutdown as more air traffic controllers are out of work. The current shortage of controllers is so severe that even a few absences from an airport tower or other FAA radar facilities could cause problems.
Controllers — and FAA technicians who maintain the equipment they rely on — are expected to continue working without pay during the shutdown to keep flights running. But as the shutdown dragged on this fall, more controllers began to walk off the job, citing financial pressures and the need to take on additional jobs.
Delays became so bad during the latest shutdown that the government ordered airlines to cut some of their flights at 40 busy airports across the country, with the FAA saying it was an unprecedented but necessary step to ease the strain on systems and controllers. Thousands of flights were canceled before the FAA lifted the order entirely and airlines were able to resume normal operations on Monday.
Why was the Insurance Fund created?
The insurance fund that would be used in the bill introduced Tuesday was created at a time when airlines were having trouble getting any insurance coverage after 9/11. For years, airlines have been regularly paying into the fund to receive coverage from the government.
But by the early 2010s the insurance market for airlines had stagnated. Congress allowed the insurance program to expire at the end of 2014. This fund still exists today to pay claims filed by an airline if the government orders one of its aircraft for a military operation or other use.
The last time a claim was made was in 2021, after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The fund continues to grow as interest is collected.