A Federal Aviation Administration sign hangs in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport, March 16, 2017.WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators have agreed on a $105 billion bill designed to improve the safety of air travel after a series ofHouse and Senate lawmakers said Monday that the bill will increase the number of air traffic controllers and require the Federal Aviation Administration to use new technology designed to prevent collisions between planes on the ground.
The bill was negotiated by Republicans and Democrats who lead the House and Senate committees overseeing the FAA, which has been under scrutiny since it approved Boeing jets that were quickly involved in two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. It will govern FAA operations for the next five years.In the end, negotiators dropped a House provision raising the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots to 67; it will remain at 65.