Law­mak­ers strike deal on long-await­ed FAA reau­tho­riza­tion as dead­line looms

Key Sen­ate and House nego­tia­tors unveiled a long-await­ed bill ear­ly Mon­day morn­ing to reau­tho­rize the Fed­er­al Avi­a­tion Admin­is­tra­tion for the next five years, a major must-pass item ahead of the May 10 dead­line.
The deal would boost fund­ing intend­ed to avert close-call col­li­sions on run­ways, improve air traf­fic con­troller staffing, main­tain the cur­rent pilot retire­ment age at 65, and grant 10 addi­tion­al slots at Ronald Rea­gan Wash­ing­ton Nation­al Air­port, or five round-trip flights. 
Con­gress extend­ed the autho­riza­tion for the crit­i­cal agency, allow­ing more time to com­plete the $105 bil­lion bill, which the Sen­ate is expect­ed to vote on this week. The House passed its ver­sion of the bill last July by a vote of 351 to 69. Its ver­sion of the bill raised the manda­to­ry pilot retire­ment age from 65 to 67. How­ev­er, after oppo­nents argued the change could affect safe­ty and cause headaches for pilots over 65 inter­na­tion­al­ly, the Sen­ate …