Airport Alert: House Committee Leaders Unveil Broad Aviation Safety Bill

February 19, 2026

The bipartisan leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Armed Services Committee have released the text of their broad aviation safety bill, known as the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act. As we noted in our Alert earlier today, the move by committee leaders to introduce and consider the legislation, which is aimed at implementing the recommendations of the NTSB in the wake of last year’s tragic accident at DCA, comes as House leadership has scheduled a vote on the Senate-passed ROTOR Act next week. The text of the ALERT Act is here and a section-by-section summary of the measure is here.

Notably, neither the ROTOR Act nor the broader measure unveiled today by House committee leaders includes the AOPA-backed Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act (PAPA) – H.R. 4146/S. 2175 – or similar provisions. As we noted in our weekly Federal Affairs call on Tuesday and our Alert from earlier today, we have been concerned that the recent endorsement of the PAPA bill by the NTSB Chair (see our Hearing Report) would drive efforts to add the PAPA legislation or something similar to the broader House safety measure. We have been in contact with House staff and coordinating with ACI-NA over the past few days to re-emphasize our opposition to PAPA and the negative impact it would have on airport operators.

While it is certainly positive news that neither the ROTOR Act nor the House ALERT Act includes the AOPA-backed provisions, we will need to remain vigilant should the measure be considered by the committee and subject to amendment. Notably, the lead House sponsor of PAPA – Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) – is a member of the T&I Committee.

What’s Next? Stay Engaged on PAPA

As we indicated earlier, the move by House Speaker Mike Johnson to expedite consideration of the ROTOR Act next week is somewhat surprising given ongoing efforts by leaders of key House committees to draft their own aviation safety legislation. It is likely that passage of the ROTOR Act would significantly lessen the urgency in Congress to pass additional aviation safety legislation. It is not yet clear if that fact will influence the vote on the ROTOR Act next week. As a reminder, the ROTOR Act, which passed the Senate unanimously late last year and has the strong support of the families of DCA crash victims and numerous aviation groups including AAAE, would establish new requirements for the utilization of ADS-B technology by virtually all aircraft and helicopters and increase oversight of commercial and helicopter traffic and flight routes near airports.

While the exact contours of future consideration of PAPA are unclear at this time, we urge you to continue your efforts to educate members of the House and Senate on your concerns with the legislation. As a reminder, the bill as introduced would prohibit the use of ADS-B technology for fee collections by airports and impose a series of other burdensome and time-consuming requirements on the imposition and collection of takeoff and landing fees on general aviation, regardless of the process or technology utilized to collect those fees.

To assist you:

• Background paper outlining AAAE concerns with PAPA
• Our previous call to action to push back on PAPA and pilot claims
• Contact information for House members here and Senators here

Thank you for your continued engagement and advocacy. If the AAAE team can be helpful in any way, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Stay tuned for further updates and calls to action.