After a promising start on Wednesday, the process to reauthorize funding for the FAA came to a halt Thursday when the Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Committee indefinitely postponed markup of its bill. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed its version of the bill unanimously in a rare show of bipartisanship, but their Senate counterparts are concerned about measures to address the pilot shortage. There has been no official word on when the discussions might resume but sources told CNN it will likely be after the July 4 break. The current reauthorization ends in September.
Senate committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wa., said there is deep concern among some members about increasing the simulator component of airline pilot training. Current regs require pilots to have 1,500 hours to become airliner first officers and the bill would allow another 150 of that to be done in a sim. Opponents say it will water down the current requirement, which was enacted in 2010 following the 2009 crash of a Colgan regional flight near Buffalo, New York. There are other sticking points emerging from the bill. A provision to raise the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 is attracting opposition as is the proposal to add more slots to Reagan National Airport in Washington, which opponents say will increase the number of flight delays at DCA.
