Air traffic controllers, meanwhile, could soon be returning to the bargaining table. The FAA authorization bill recently passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee includes language that would require binding arbitration for future labor negotiations between air traffic controllers and the FAA, though the White House has threatened to veto the bill.
It calls on the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and agency management to negotiate a new contract to replace current work rules imposed after the FAA declared an impasse in negotiations last year.
The bill would temporarily reinstate the former labor contract with NATCA and require binding arbitration if the two sides reached an impasse, rather than allowing FAA to impose its offer if Congress chooses not to intervene, as it did in the last Congress.