Woodall: FAA Reauthorization Protects Americans

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall praised legislation passed by the House and Senate this week that reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration for a little over a year.

The funding bill keeps the FAA running through September 2017. It also tackles several issues such as making air carriers refund paid baggage fees if the luggage is lost or "unreasonably destroyed," streamlining the approval and cooperation process between agencies for the use of unmanned aircraft during emergencies and improving the process for hiring air traffic controllers to addresses shortages.

Some additional pieces of the bill include mandating some air traffic control towers make themselves more visible to low-flying aircraft; making expedited security screening available to a wider group of passengers and requiring carriers to have flight attendants trained to recognize and help potential human trafficking victims.

"This legislation takes immediate steps to keep the American people safe, and delivers over a year of certainty to consumers and those invested in the industry while ensuring we have the time to iron our remaining differences," Woodall said in a statement.

Source