As August comes to a close, Congress is left with just a month—and actually far less than that—to come to some sort of agreement on a long-term FAA reauthorization bill or face yet another extension of the agency’s operating authority. The agency is operating under a short-term extension set to expire September 30. Another stop-gap measure would make the sixth short-term extension in the current reauthorization cycle.
The last long-term reauthorization cycle expired on Sept. 30, 2015. It took only 23 short-term extensions and five-plus years to get that long-term bill, FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, passed. The debates that held up long-term legislation a decade ago weren’t too far from the debates that had held up the current reauthorization bill, namely how to fund air traffic control.
Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the Aviation International News monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with AIN for eight years. She joined AIN 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 HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the Show News staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for Business & Commercial Aviation and Overhaul & Maintenance 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.
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