from NextGov:
Senate Commerce Committee leaders might seek to add funding to the economic stimulus package to begin modernizing the nation’s air traffic control system, as uncertainty continues over the timing and chances of a multiyear FAA modernization plan.
Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison — who led the Aviation Subcommittee in the last Congress — “are in agreement that it would be an appropriate place to put in the stimulus bill some beginning help” for FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System, Hutchison said. The agency’s program is designed to transform the ground-based air traffic control system to a satellite-based system.
While details — including the amount of money — are being worked out, Rockefeller said, “I don’t think you have to put in a tremendous amount.”
