Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The comprehensive, five-year FAA reauthorization bill sailed through the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday by a vote of 387 to 26 and now heads to the President’s desk for signature and enactment into law.
A bipartisan bill with strong <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2024-04-29/house-senate-strike-accord-long-term-faa-bill">endorsement</a> by the Democrat and Republican leaders of the Senate Commerce and House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&amp;I) Committees (who NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen called the “four corners”), the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3935">H.R. 3935</a>) also overwhelmingly passed the Senate last week by an <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-05-10/faa-bill-overwhelmingly-passes-senate">88-to-4 vote</a>. Once House and Senate leaders rolled out the bill, it got held up only slightly in the Senate as many members looked to attach riders, but the chamber’s leadership ruled out non-germane measures, clearing the path to passage.
While not everyone was completely happy with the bill, the key House and Senate leaders compromised on myriad issues—such as slots into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (there will be more) and the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/2024-02-08/faa-reauthorization-passes-senate-committee-following">age 65 retirement rule for airline pilots</a> (this remains unchanged)—to ensure that the bill did not stagnate for years as has happened in the past.
Even so, Congress passed four extensions of the FAA’s authorization before it passed.
As for its contents, the 1,061-page bill addresses a range of safety, certification, workforce, consumer protection, and sustainability issues, among many others. And, in a first for an FAA reauthorization bill, H.R.3935 contains a title solely dedicated to general aviation.
“The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 is one of the farthest-reaching, most consequential pieces of legislation this House will consider in the 118th Congress,” said T&amp;I Chairman Sam Graves (R-Missouri) after Wednesday’s passage. “For over a century, the United States has led the world in aviation safety and innovation, and this bill is critical to ensuring America remains the global leader in aviation. It’s vital to our economy, to millions of American jobs, and to the millions of passengers that depend on our National Airspace System every single day.”
Rick Larsen (D-Washington), the ranking member on the T&amp;I Committee, agreed, adding: “This bipartisan bill provides critical safety enhancements, grows America’s aviation workforce by creating good-paying jobs, invests in resilient infrastructure at U.S. airports of all sizes, sets clear priorities for advancing innovative aviation technologies, and provides robust protections for airline customers. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 is the result of months of good faith work between House and Senate committee leaders.”
After House passage, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell also weighed in. “This bill delivers big wins to Americans,” she said. “Consumers get hassle-free refunds and the guaranteed family seating they've been asking for. Local economies get a boost from&nbsp;expanding airports and airport capacity—every dollar invested in aviation infrastructure creates $2.50 in economic growth. Flying gets safer thanks to more inspectors and advanced near-miss technology.”
The bill is intended to address several safety issues and make targeted changes to the FAA’s organizational structure to improve its efficiency and operations. House committee leaders said the general aviation (GA) title recognizes “that the success of the United States aviation system is built upon a strong GA foundation.”
Addressing workforce issues, the bill includes investments in development and training to help remove barriers for those seeking to pursue aviation careers. Other investments are designed to boost infrastructure, including prioritizing funds for small and GA airports. Other measures pave a path for the integration of new technologies such as advanced air mobility. The bill also calls for airline consumer reforms.
In addition to the FAA, the sweeping bill also reauthorizes the National Transportation Safety Board.
Almost immediately after the House vote, a gamut of industry associations—including many of those representing the business and general aviation sector—issued statements lauding passage.
“We are very pleased to see this important and historic legislation, after many months of work, advance to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law,” said Bolen. “Both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol, have come together and passed a bill that reflects the business aviation community’s priorities, provides a long-term roadmap for the agency, and ensures that America will continue to lead the world in aviation safety, security, sustainability, innovation, workforce development, and investment in airports and other critical infrastructure.”
Bolen pointed to the GA title, which he said will help streamline regulations and improve certification processes for GA. He also noted measures to improve processes and protocols in the FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine, including those surrounding <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2024-03-04/tackling-aviations-mental-health-paradox">pilot mental health</a>.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association president and CEO Pete Bunce also praised measures to establish an assistant administrator for rulemaking and regulatory improvement, require a review of the rulemaking process to reduce bureaucratic delays, strengthen workforce development grants, and support pilot programs for mobile delivery of air traffic services.
“It is vitally important for the entire aviation ecosystem to finally have Congress pass a long-term FAA reauthorization bill. The final bill contains many of the important provisions that GAMA strongly advocated for throughout the process,” Bunce said.
NATA president and CEO Curt Castagna agreed that the aviation leaders on Capitol Hill “demonstrated remarkable commitment to a timely, collaborative process that recognizes the significance of the general aviation sector to the overall aviation industry.”
Castagna additionally cited measures that foster increased FAA/industry collaboration, GA protections during a transition to unleaded aviation gasoline, and reforms involving aircraft registration and designated pilot examiners. Importantly, the bill includes provisions to address FAA inefficiencies and inconsistencies surrounding Part 135 certification, aircraft conformity, and pilot checks, he said.
"Many months of hard work and bipartisan collaboration has resulted in legislation that serves general aviation in a way like never before,” agreed Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association president Mark Baker. “AOPA members and the GA community will reap the benefits of this reauthorization for years to come."
Baker was particularly pleased with the inclusion of the general aviation title and noted the support it gives to protect and expand pilot privileges.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

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