Welcomes Senate Committee Passage

The National Business Aviation Association said it welcomes the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee passage of the FY2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies bill that includes funding for a number of aviation industry priorities and policies.

The Senate bill includes $22.4 billion in funding for the FAA, $13.8 billion of which is allocated for agency operations, $4 billion for facilities and equipment, and $290 million for research and development.

Similar to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee bill passed in July, the Senate bill also recommends the hiring of 2,500 new air traffic controllers.

The funding initiatives align with the goals of the Modern Skies Coalition, a group comprised of the NBAA in concert with more than 50 international industry stakeholders that strongly support a comprehensive upgrade of the nation’s ATC system serving 45,000 flights and 2.9 million passengers every single day.

Ed Bolen, President and CEO of NBAA said, "We are grateful that the Senate Appropriations Committee recognized the need for swift action to approve this comprehensive funding measure that will enhance safety and reliability of ATC, in addition to many other positive steps to ensure the U.S. maintains its global leadership in aviation. We urge Congress to finalize passage of this important legislation.”

An issue critical to many in the industry is privatization of the country’s ATC operations. Importantly, the committee does not support privatization. The funding bill reads, “The committee does not support any efforts to transfer the FAA’s air traffic functions to a not-for-profit, independent, private corporation.”

The committee noted that such a move would lead to unnecessary safety risks, underfunding of the entire system, and layoffs in ATC operations.

FMI:  nbaa.org/