Bipartisan Airport Runway Safety Bill Clears Senate Committee

Legislation aims to reduce incursions and other incidents related to surface operations.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 02:00 PM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrive at LaGuardia Airport’s Runway 4 following the fatal collision between a passenger jet and fire truck in March. [Credit: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

A bipartisan bill, the Runway SAFE-T Act, has cleared the Senate Commerce Committee and is headed to the full Senate, aiming to reduce runway incursions and improve surface safety at airports.
The legislation seeks to enhance airport vehicle operator training, expand the use of surface safety technologies, and establish an FAA-led task force to recommend best practices for ground operations.
Introduced in response to recent fatal incidents and a 44% jump in severe runway incursions in 2025, the bill also allows airports to utilize existing FAA funding for these safety improvements.

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A bipartisan airport runway safety bill that aims to reduce runway incursions and other surface safety incidents has cleared the Senate Commerce Committee and will head to that chamber’s floor, according to one of the legislators who introduced it.

Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said Wednesday in a post on X that the Runway Surface Awareness and Focused, Effective Training and Technology (Runway SAFE-T) Act moved one step closer to becoming law. The bill’s introduction in August came a few months after an Air Canada Bombardier CRJ-900 collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport (KLGA), killing two pilots and injuring dozens of others.