Washington Wire: FAA Bill, Including Passenger Rights, Stalls in Senate

Efforts to upgrade air-traffic control equipment, revoke relief for American Airlines and Continental Airlines from pension-related budget pressures and write a new Passenger's Bill of Rights stalled in Congress, making action unlikely until next year. The Senate fell 11 votes short of a key procedural motion May 6 that would have advanced the legislation, which would have shifted fuel tax burdens onto corporate jets and off of commercial airlines to fund $240 million in Federal Aviation Administration upgrades. "We are not going to be able to do it this year, more than likely," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). President George W. Bush had threatened to veto the legislation partly because of provisions relating to the funding of highway construction, one of several that drew criticism from Republican senators and "bogged" down the legislation, which would reauthorize FAA, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "We find ourselves in a stalemate," he said. Some of the disputed provisions would have authorized tax-credit bonds for the construction of rail lines. The Senate's failure leaves in limbo several issues of concern for business travelers, including a proposal to raise business-jet fuel taxes to 36 cents per gallon from 21.8 cents. The House previously had voted to set the rate for corporate jets at 35.9 cents per gallon. It also torpedoes efforts to strengthen a passenger's rights measure sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that would require airlines to allow passengers stuck on runways to disembark, among other provisions. "Without a doubt, a no vote is a vote to leave passengers once again stuck on the runway for hours in stinky planes," said Kate Hannai, executive director of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights. The failed vote also means a long-time debate in the Senate over whether to revoke pension relief enacted in 2006 for American, Continental and other carriers will continue to simmer.

Homeland Security Moves to Lower 'Hassle Factor'
The Department of Homeland Security said it is implementing new security procedures that allow passengers with names similar to those on a watchlist to check in for flights remotely for the first time. The agency said it will allow airlines to create systems that verify and store a passenger's date of birth to avoid misidentifications. "Hassles due to misidentification and the resulting necessity to stand in line to check in at the ticket counter is consistently among the deepest—and most valid—complaints of the traveling public," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. DHS also said it was providing "greater clarity" on the types of acceptable identification that can be accepted at checkpoints beginning May 26. Any federal- or state-issued idea qualifies if it contains the passenger's name, date of birth, gender, expiration date and a tamper-resistant feature.