Congress is staring down a Friday deadline for a must-pass federal aviation bill that would provide a five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Senators in both parties on Wednesday continued to haggle over an amendment process to fast-track the legislation before the crucial agency’s authorization lapses.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) revealed that Senate negotiators agreed to include his bipartisan amendment with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to guarantee automatic refunds to passengers when airlines cancel flights.
“Victory for consumers,” Hawley said. “The new FAA bill will include my protections to get automatic refunds for airline passengers when their flights are canceled.”
The Biden administration has rolled out new policies addressing automatic refunds for canceled and significantly delayed flights, as well as requiring airlines to be more transparent about junk fees. However, the rules would likely not take effect until October.
Chamber leaders have rejected jockeying from senators in both parties to include amendments on unrelated policy matters.
Congress has already punted FAA reauthorization three times — and could require a fourth short-term extension, according to GOP leaders. The House already passed an FAA bill but will be forced to readdress the matter because of the Senate’s changes.
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“It’s going to take a lot of cooperation to get this complicated bill done,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. “Thankfully, we have made some good progress over the last few days on germane amendments, and we hope to finish our work in time for the House to act on our bill.”
Among the most contentious matters is the demand by Washington, D.C.-area lawmakers to strip out language expanding the number of round-trip flights at Reagan National Airport. They say the busy airport is already over capacity and that adding flights would jeopardize passenger safety.
David Sivak contributed to this report.
