Measure Includes Funding For Technology And Air Traffic Control Hiring The House of Representatives has passed a bill called the Consolidated Appropriations Act that includes significant resources for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade aging technology, help pilots and increase air traffic controller hiring.The large bill, H.R. 7148, combines the budgets of the Departments of Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services. Among the bill’s provisions are a two-pilot flight deck requirement that directs the FAA to ensure that at least two qualified, fully rested pilots remain on the flight decks of commercial airlines at all times.The bill includes additional resources to modernize the FAA’s aeromedical process to reduce backlogs for pilot medical certificates and gives the agency new flexibility to hire skilled medical professionals.
