After 23 short-term funding extensions that dragged out over five years, the $63-billion Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill that President Obama recently signed is giving the aviation industry plenty to cheer—and plenty to loathe.
On the bright side, experts say, the bill provides a predictable funding outlook until 2016 after years of uncertainty and a 14-day shutdown last summer, which put many airport projects permanently on hold. It also authorizes $2.7 billion annually for the FAA's facilities-and-equipment account that also funds the "NextGen" modernization programs that are bringing the nation's aviation systems into the 21st century.