In response to House passage of the FAA Reauthorization bill, National Air Carrier Association President and CEO George Novak issued the following statement:

NACA congratulates House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Garret Graves (R-La.), Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) and Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and the committee staff, for developing the epic, five-year FAA reauthorization bill, “Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act” (H.R. 3935), which the House passed today with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The bill addresses several NACA policy priorities:

• Holding the line on the federal aviation tax burden by avoiding tax and fee increases;

• Containing the regulatory burden by not including any new, unnecessary mandates on minimum seat dimensions;

• Repealing the DOT Full-Fare Advertising Rule so airlines can better inform passengers how much of their total flight costs are attributable to federal taxes and fees;

• Providing near-term relief on the national pilot shortage safely by increasing the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to age 67;

• Reducing congestion and delays by requiring the FAA to hire as many controllers as the agency can train through 2028, and providing robust funding to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system; and

• Including a wide range of initiatives to ensure that the United States and the FAA remain the world’s gold standard in aviation safety.

We look forward to working with House and Senate transportation leaders on a bipartisan basis to ensure that FAA reauthorization legislation that addresses these critical policy issues is enacted as soon as possible.