The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a spending plan that would channel $22 billion to the FAA to help train more air traffic controllers and start a years-long overhaul of the agency’s aging infrastructure.
The funding includes $13.8 billion for operations, $4 billion for facilities and equipment, $4 billion for grants-in-aid to U.S. airports, and $290 million for research and development. A portion of the operations money would be used to train about 2,500 controllers, roughly the number needed to return the national ATC system to full staffing.
