Airport Alert: Key House Committee Advances FY26 DOT/FAA Funding Bill
July 17, 2025
After a marathon session, the House Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote today approved its proposed FY26 spending bill for the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. As we reported on Sunday, the House measure proposes $4 billion for the traditional AIP account and slightly more than $313.7 million in supplemental AIP funding, $283.7 million of which is reserved for 88 airport earmarks (pages 143-149) and $30 million for efforts to transition to fluorine-free firefighting foam.
Below are highlights from the bill approved today and the committee report accompanying the measure, which includes additional direction from the committee to DOT and FAA.
FAA Funding
Overall FAA: The House bill includes almost $23.3 billion for the FAA, which is more $2.3 billion above the current FY25 funding level.
Operations: The measure includes $13.8 billion for FAA operations. Of that amount, almost $10.4 billion is available to “fully fund air traffic control operations and allow the FAA to hire 2,500 air traffic controllers to replace the retiring workforce.” The committee report accompanying the bill notes that $95.9 million in operations funding is designated for controller hiring and training.
Facilities and Equipment: The bill includes a $1.824 billion increase in F&E funding to $5 billion. The subcommittee chair responsible for drafting the House bill – Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) – spoke earlier this week at the AAAE ATC Modernization Summit and indicated that the additional investment was intended to build upon the $12.5 billion in funding for ATC modernization efforts included in the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB).
The bill also provides $1.205 billion in F&E funding for “the replacement of air traffic control towers and combined facilities that the FAA has identified as costing more to sustain than replace.”
Research, Engineering, and Development: The House measure includes $230 million for research, engineering, and development.
Airport Improvement Program
Traditional AIP Funding: The House bill includes $4 billion for the traditional AIP account in FY26 – the same amount authorized in last year’s FAA reauthorization bill. Of that amount, $160 million is for administration expenses, $15 million is designated for the Airport Cooperative Research Program, almost $41.8 million is for Airport Technology Research, and $15 million is for the Small Community Air Service Development Program.
Supplemental AIP Funding/Earmarks: The House bill proposes an additional $317.738 million for supplemental AIP funding. Of that amount, $283.738 million is reserved for community project funding/earmarks, which covers “88 projects requested by 80 members.” Those projects can be viewed on pages 143-149 of the committee report.
Funding to Help Airports Transition to Fluorine-Free Firefighting Foam: Another $30 million from the supplemental AIP funding is reserved for helping airports transition to fluorine-free firefighting foam. Last year’s FAA reauthorization bill authorized a total of $350 million over five years for that purpose. At a hearing yesterday before the House Transportation Committee, DOT Secretary Duffy indicated that the Department would move forward with transition efforts if funding for that purpose materializes.
Continued EDS Prohibition: The bill continues the prohibition against the use of AIP funds for “the replacement of baggage conveyor systems, reconfiguration of terminal baggage areas, or other airport improvements that are necessary to install bulk explosive detection systems.”
Small Community Programs
Contract Towers: The House bill includes $297 million for the FAA Contract Tower Program – $23 million more than the current level. That proposed increase would fund all 265 contract towers currently in the program and allow the FAA to add other airports to the program during the next fiscal year. If enacted into law, the proposal would represent more than a $100 million increase for the program since FY22.
Contract Tower Staffing: The report accompanying the bill notes that “the committee supports the FAA federal contract tower (FCT) program as a cost-effective and efficient way to provide air traffic control services to smaller airports across the country; however, it is concerned about staffing shortages. No later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the FAA shall brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on FCT staffing shortages, impacts of such shortages, and steps the FAA is taking to help address such shortages.” The committee report also notes that the bill incudes funding to establish the pilot program for transitioning federal contract towers to FAA towers, as required by section 625 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118–63).
Contract Tower Technologies: The report accompanying the bill notes that “the committee believes that there are additional safety gains from equipping air traffic control towers with displays and technologies like STARS and ADS–B displays that increase situational awareness for controllers. The committee directs the FAA to report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 180 days after enactment on how the agency intends to help equip federal contract tower with such technologies, including how the FAA intends to comply with subsection 47124(f) of title 49, United States Code.”
Small Community Air Service Development: As noted, the House bill includes $15 million for the Small Community Air Service Development Program -- $10 million above the current level and $15 million more than the administration requested.
Essential Air Service: The House bill includes $514 million in discretionary funding for the Essential Air Service Program -- $206 million more than the administration requested. Coupled with an estimated $173.9 million from overflight fees, the overall funding level for EAS would rise to $687.9 million in FY26. The report accompanying the bill includes the following direction from the committee regarding EAS:
Low population rural airports: The committee recommends prioritization of rural airports in locations where the county population is less than 50,000 residents. The Committee directs DOT to brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations no later than 180 days after enactment on specific counties with populations less than 50,000 residents eligible for the Essential Air Service program.
Program oversight: The committee directs the Department to conduct a comprehensive review of all communities outside of Alaska and Hawaii that are currently receiving EAS subsidies. This review shall include an evaluation of service utilization rates (i.e. annual passengers and load factors), proximity to alternative air service options, subsidy levels, and per-passenger costs. The committee further directs the Department to assess whether current eligibility criteria remain consistent with the program’s statutory purpose. The Department shall submit a report with its findings and recommendations to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations not later than 1 year after enactment.
Program updates: The Department is directed to continue providing the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations quarterly updates on the timing and amount of fee collections, obligations, outlays, and carrier contracts associated with the EAS program.
Miscellaneous
Cost Free Space: The House bill includes a AAAE-backed proposal that would continue to prohibit the FAA from requiring airports to provide space free of charge in airport-owned buildings.
Airport Cooperative Research Program: As noted, the House bill includes $15 million in AIP funding for the Airport Cooperative Research Program.
Aviation Workforce Development Program: The bill includes $45 million for the aviation workforce development program established as part of last year’s FAA reauthorization bill.
ATC Privatization: The report accompanying the bill notes that “he United States has the largest, safest, most efficient, and most complex air traffic control system in the world, and the FAA should remain a global leader while remaining committed to its safety mission. To that end, the committee does not support the transfer of the responsibility for overseeing a safe air traffic system from the FAA to a not-for-profit, independent, private corporation.”
Aircraft Noise: In the report, the committee directs FAA to “support the continued reduction of aircraft noise and engage regularly with communities affected by aircraft noise. The Committee further directs the FAA to implement the sections of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118–63) related to aircraft noise and noise mitigation, including establishing the aircraft noise advisory committee responsible for assessing alternative noise metrics to the day night level standard, updating AIP eligibilities related to noise barriers, evaluating noise impact as a consideration when implementing flight procedures, and others.”
Remote Towers: The report notes that “the committee recognizes the growing interest in the utilization of remote tower systems as a safe, cost-effective alternative to brick-and-mortar towers at small and non-towered airports across the country and as a potential opportunity to address controller resource constraints. The committee urges the FAA to engage stakeholders in system design review of such systems and move towards the development and approval of a performance-based standard for the technology. The committee directs FAA to brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, on the agency’s efforts to finalize system design approval, implement sections 621 and 1027 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, and on any interest the FAA has received from partners that want to use or demonstrate the use of the technology for low altitude aircraft operations. The recommendation includes $2 million in funding for remote towers on top of the $50 million provided by the OBBB Act.”
Airport Ground Surveillance: The report notes that “the committee supports the FAA’s comprehensive strategy to reduce close calls on the runways of our nation’s airports. The recommendation provides $56 million for FAA’s airport ground surveillance portfolio, in addition to the $500 million provided by the OBBB Act provided for such purposes and others, of which not less than $1 million is to address the long-term modernization and sustainment of ASDE–X and ASSC, and not less than $5 million is to expand the Surface Awareness Initiative, or a follow-on program, to additional airports. The committee directs the FAA to brief the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the results of these fiscal year 2026 activities within 180 days of enactment.”
Tarmac Safety and Runway Incursion Prevention: The bill proposes $1 million to study “potential ground collision avoidance technologies and the benefits of employing such technologies to reduce collisions involving other aircraft, ground vehicles and objects, analyzing the economic cost and disruption impacts of collisions, and any safety benefits of aircraft external cameras and other available technologies that could reduce the occurrence of such collisions.”
Intelligent Approach Technologies: The committee notes the international use of intelligent approach arrival spacing tools in optimizing runway throughput and improving on-time performance in high-traffic environments. The committee “urges the FAA, in coordination with airport operators, air carriers, and relevant stakeholders, to initiate a formal study and potential implementation strategies for the potential use of intelligent approach technologies in areas with highly congested airspace and runways. The Committee directs the FAA to brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 1 year of enactment on progress made toward conducting the study and shall provide a final report within 4 years outlining findings, feasibility, and any recommendations for implementation.”
