USCTA Alert
Senate Clears Extension of FAA Programs and Excise Taxes Through March 8, 2024
December 20, 2023
Unable to pass a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill before the initial September 30 deadline, Congress passed a short-term extension that expires on December 31. With the end of the year quickly approaching Congress needed to clear another stop-gap measure to extend FAA programs and aviation excise taxes.
Coupled with the first short-term extension, H.R. 6503 would provide the FAA with slightly more than five months of authorized funding. That translates into a total of approximately $1.5 billion for AIP and another $244 million for supplemental discretionary grants.
Like the first short-term extension, the latest bill also extends the so-called “high-three” provision that will allow airports to receive favorable AIP entitlements in FY24. Specifically, the language will allow AIP entitlements to be based on enplanements in calendar year 2018, 2019, or 2022 – whichever is higher.
The House-passed version of the comprehensive, five-year FAA reauthorization bill includes a similar AAAE and ACI-NA backed proposal that would keep the high-three provision in place in FY24 and FY25. That language could be particularly helpful to airports that have lost commercial air service since the start of the pandemic.
Since the House approved H.R. 6503 last week, the bill now goes to the President for his signature. The latest stop gap will give lawmakers more time to figure out a path forward in the Senate and hopefully complete action on comprehensive FAA reauthorization bill early next year.
