House and Senate negotiate bill to help FAA add more air traffic controllers and safety inspectors

Associated Press

Congressional negotiators are agreeing to help the Federal Aviation Administration hire more air traffic controllers and safety inspectors. This comes after several highly publicized close calls between planes at the nation’s airports. House and Senate leaders said Monday they have agreed on a $105 billion bill governing the Federal Aviation Administration for the next five years. The bill also requires the Federal Aviation Administration to use the latest technology designed to prevent collisions between planes on the ground. The bill drops a House provision that would have raised the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots to 67; it’ll stay at 65.