April 12, 2011
Congress is working this week to give final approval to the fiscal year 2011 spending bill that includes $38 billion in cuts across the government.
The measure that Congress is expected to approve proposes $3.515 billion for AIP. The bill also fully funds the Essential Air Service program at $200 million.
The final amounts could be reduced slightly due to a 0.2 percent across-the-board cut included in the agreement that is to be spread across all non-defense discretionary programs.
FAA’s facilities and equipment account, which includes funding for NextGen initiatives, does not fare as well as AIP in the final fiscal year 2011 package, with funding scheduled to drop $200 million to fiscal year 2009 levels of $2.736 billion before the possible across-the-board cut. FAA research and development is trimmed to $170 million from $191 million in fiscal year 2010.
Separately, AAAE’s Airport Legislative Alliance remains actively engaged in pushing for higher AIP funding levels and other airport priorities as negotiations on a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill continue.
http://www.aviationnews.net/index.html?do=headline&news_id=190613
Source: AVIATION NEWS TODAY
Date: 2011-04-12