If you're lucky, you've only seen it in television news stories or read about it in the paper: exhausted travelers slumped on uncomfortable airport chairs, waiting for flights that board outrageously late or get canceled. Passengers strapped into their seats, waiting for the plane to get permission to take off or land – and waiting, and waiting. Families waiting at the gate to pick up sons, daughters or grandparents who have been diverted to an airport in a different state.

I have to fly a lot between Wisconsin and Washington, so I've experienced some of the consequences of our overburdened commercial air system first hand. And I understood when some business people in Oshkosh recently told me about the tense, adversarial relations they are experiencing currently with the airlines – difficulties and delays which make our economy less efficient while making everybody angrier.

Inconvenience is one thing, but the recent Concorde tragedy in France reminds us that the stakes in air travel can be very high, and that this is an industry where it's extremely important for things to go right. When an airline can't keep its schedule and its waiting room from spinning out of control, you have to wonder what other kinds of problems there might be behind the scenes.

Why are things so bad? Aviation activity is growing at an amazing pace. In 1998, airlines flew over 640 million passengers – 25% more than five years before. Air cargo traffic is rising even faster – by about 50% over the past five years. With all this traffic, the Air Transport Association estimates that delays caused by inadequate facilities are costing the airlines $2.5 billion to $3 billion a year. And naturally, the airlines compensate by raising prices and cutting costs, including those supporting services and amenities previously enjoyed by the flying public.

But help is on the way.

The traveling public pays taxes on airline tickets which go to the Aviation Trust Fund. One-hundred percent of the trust fund money is supposed to be used to help build, maintain and operate airports and air traffic systems and to ensure safety. But over several years, Congress and the Administration repeatedly raided the trust fund to finance unrelated federal activities.

But, no more. Now that federal budget deficits have been eliminated and large annual surpluses are expected throughout the decade ahead, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee – where I serve as Vice Chairman – has succeeded in convincing Congress to restore the original function of the Aviation Trust Fund as an institution which takes in airline user taxes and then disburses those taxes 100% for activities designed to benefit airline travelers.

Restoration of the trust fund was established through the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21) which Congress approved in March, and which the President signed in April. AIR 21 goes into effect with the start of the new federal budget year on October 1st. It's a three-year bill which will increase aviation investment by $10 billion over current levels, with the lion's share of the funding going to radar modernization and overdue airport construction projects. The total authorized funding for federal aviation programs will be $40 billion over the next three years, $33 billion of which will come from the Aviation Trust Fund.

Of added importance to central Wisconsin, AIR 21 will do more for small and medium- sized airports than any previous bill. It will help ensure that America has the safest, most efficient air service in the world, and I'm glad to have played a major role in bringing this about.