Austin News

U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has lauded the Senate's passage of the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which includes key provisions aimed at enhancing safety and convenience for travelers nationwide.

Sen. Cruz commented on the legislation's approval, stating, “Today the Senate overwhelmingly passed a major FAA Reauthorization that will modernize and transform our country’s aviation system. It was a privilege to lead this significant piece of bipartisan legislation. It included hundreds of key priorities from across the political spectrum and touching every state in the nation."

The senator further highlighted that this bill gives the FAA stability to fulfill its primary mission—advancing aviation safety—while also making travel more convenient and accessible. He added that America’s aviation sector is innovative, and this bill integrates future technologies into our nation’s aerospace system.

Cruz underscored the importance of the aviation sector as an economic linchpin, saying, "The historic investments and reforms in this legislation will have a significant impact on the daily lives of people across Texas and the nation." He emphasized that his bipartisan legislation would greatly benefit Texas’s thriving aviation industry by enabling testing for various cutting-edge technologies, improving critical infrastructure at airports across Texas, and facilitating a direct flight from San Antonio International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Key provisions in the FAA Reauthorization bill include $4 billion per year in funding for airport infrastructure projects; five additional exemptions to statutory “perimeter rule,” allowing new round-trip flights to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from previously excluded locations; directing the FAA to hire maximum air traffic controllers; creating a Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies; adjusting discretionary airport improvement program funding structures; integrating commercial space activities into national airspace systems; benefiting universities seeking to develop aviation-related curriculum; reforming FAA’s State Block Grant program; improving operational capabilities for FAA’s UAS test range managed by Texas A&M; addressing recent devastating wildfires in Texas; streamlining approvals for more drone operations for offshore oil and gas facilities in international waters; establishing a process to enable test and demonstration flights for hypersonic and supersonic aircraft; and installing Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) at the top 89 airports within four years.

Additional provisions aimed at improving the safety and efficiency of the aviation system include requiring cockpit voice recorders on commercial aircraft to record for 25 hours, codifying recommended best practices on aircraft manufacturing, implementing safety improvements for ramp workers around plane engines, requiring airlines to seat families together, creating a pilot program for entities that train veterans for civil aviation careers, facilitating drone delivery of essential medicines, directing the FAA to complete the Beyond the Visual Line of Site rulemaking, and conducting a thorough review of medical and mental health protocols for pilots.