Young Votes for Fort Wayne Airmail Museum and Other Indiana Priorities in FAA Reauthorization

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) today voted to advance several Indiana priorities, including his legislation to designate a national Airmail Museum in Fort Wayne, as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which passed the Senate on a 93-6 vote. The five-year reauthorization would modernize airport infrastructure, enhance safety and security, and improve service for flyers. The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law, and is the longest enacted FAA authorization since 1982.

“Today’s vote to pass this FAA reauthorization benefits Hoosiers, and the safety and security of Indiana’s airports,” said Senator Young. “I’m glad my bipartisan legislation to designate a national airmail museum in Fort Wayne was included in this authorization, and I look forward to seeing this project move forward.”

In August, Senator Young introduced the National Airmail Museum Act to designate Hangar 2 at Smith Field airport in Fort Wayne as the National Airmail Museum and highlight its important role in airmail and Indiana history.

Highlights of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018:

Modernizing airport infrastructure

• Provides stable, long-term funding to support airport development.
• Requires an independent study of existing airport infrastructure to assess shifting demands and future funding requirements. 

Improving service for the flying public

• Prohibits involuntary bumping of passengers who have already boarded.
• Directs FAA to review minimum standards for airline seat sizes.
• Requires private rooms for nursing mothers in large and medium airports.
• Ensures airlines promptly return fees for services (seat assignments, early boarding, etc.) not received.
• Requires TSA to make available, in airports and online, real-time information on security line waits. 

Enhancing safety and security

• Strengthens aviation training, reporting, tracking, and cybersecurity.
• Provides new risk-mitigation authorities for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
• Authorizes additional canine security teams and, to meet demand, expands TSA’s capacity to produce high quality law enforcement canines. 

Boosting innovation

• Streamlines performance-based certifications for design and delivery of aircraft to boost competitiveness of aviation manufacturing and maintain U.S. leadership in international aviation.
• Furthers efforts to safely integrate unmanned aircraft into the airspace through traffic management system advancements and research.
• Requires the FAA to review supersonic aircraft standards to modernize existing policies.