Glimmers of hope have emerged for a Senate-House agreement on a long-term aviation bill before the lame-duck session ends, but a tight schedule and other hurdles may prove too hard to overcome. If there is no deal on a multiyear measure, yet another extension would be needed.
At stake for construction are new authorization levels for FAA’s Airport Improvement Program infrastructure grants and maybe an increase in the $4.50 cap on passenger facility charges (PFCs), which fund airport projects. FAA estimates that 2010 PFC collections will be slightly less than $2.8 billion.