To address those issues, the House recently passed the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21).  The bill passed by an overwhelming and bipartisan vote of 316 to 110.  This is a “must-pass” bill, as the authorization and contract authority for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will expire later this year.  As a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and a cosponsor of this bill, I am pleased that the House has approved this legislation.

    AIR-21 would improve airline and airport safety by enhancing air traffic control systems and upgrading airport security equipment.  The United States is home to 19 of the world’s 20 busiest airports, yet we do not have the world’s most advanced air traffic control system.  AIR-21 increases the FAA’s facilities and equipment budget by 45 percent so that the agency can modernize our antiquated air traffic control system, and the bill provides funds to improve and update airport security equipment.

    Under this measure, the FAA will be required to improve the safety of small airports by issuing rules, within 180 days, to certify the safety of those airports.  The bill reserves funding to help small airports cover the cost of meeting the standards of this new certification.  AIR-21 increases funding for noise abatement to provide relief to those who live near airports, such as near Daugherty Field in Long Beach.

    AIR-21 ensures a fair return on taxpayers’ investment in the Airport and Aviation Trust Fund, which was established in 1970 to fund aviation improvements.  Currently, only a portion of the taxes going into the trust fund is invested as the law intended.  AIR-21 removes the trust fund from the federal government’s general budget so that the money collected from taxes on passenger tickets, fuel, and other excise taxes is spent solely to make the nation’s aviation system safer and more efficient.  And no cuts will be required in other federal programs to pay for AIR-21.

    Finally, this measure will improve competition among airlines, putting pressure on them to improve service and reduce costs to consumers.  It provides substantially more money to build terminals, gates, taxiways, and other infrastructure to allow additional competition at airports.  AIR-21 requires medium- and large-hub airports to file a competition plan so that resources can be directed to those projects that will do the most to enhance competition.

    According to the Department of Transportation, the number of passenger complaints per 100,000 passengers boarding was 26 percent higher in 1998 than the year before.   The Air Transport Association (ATA), the trade association of the nation’s leading airlines, recently announced a customer service improvement plan.  ATA agreed to the plan after House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) introduced a bill to establish an “Airline Passenger Bill of Rights,” which I cosponsored.  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced similar legislation in the Senate.  Under the plan, each carrier will develop individual customer service plans, which will include provisions to: inform passengers of the lowest fare available; increase baggage liability limits; and make every reasonable effort to provide food, water, restroom facilities, and access to medical treatment for on-board passengers who are on the ground for an extended period without access to the terminal.  This is a good start that will lead, I hope, to airlines treating all their passengers with the respect they deserve.

    Anything less than the highest safety standards at America’s airports is unacceptable.  Moreover, airline customers deserve better service and lower fares.  AIR-21 will make real progress toward those goals.  The Senate should approve it and the President should sign it. Aviation is one of the great American success stories of the 20th Century.  AIR-21 will help ensure that our aviation system continues to be successful as we enter the 21st Century.