FAA Bill Passes with Title 49 Language
Thursday, March 31, 2011

On Friday, the FAA Reauthorization bill (H.R. 658) passed the House of Representatives. The next step in the process is that the House and Senate will now conference together on a final bill. Both the House and the Senate versions include language that ensures a fair collective bargaining process, as supported by NATCA.

An important victory was achieved on Thursday as part of the bill. An amendment offered by Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., that would have eliminated the use of official time for employees at the FAA was defeated by a vote of 227-195.

The amendment carried devastating risks for NATCA and the safety and modernization of the National Airspace System because of the amount of official time used for everything from collaboration efforts to modernization to workgroups as well as traditional representation of employees in discipline and other cases. But thanks to efforts spearheaded by NATCA's Government Affairs Department and legislative teams, the FAA bill now proceeds forward without that particular risk.