A mammoth aviation bill unveiled by Congress Monday wouldn't just keep airports and planes across the country moving – that federal legislation could also make it easier to use a digital ID on your smartphone to go through airport security … and it also raises questions about the air quality inside one of Washington, D.C.'s airports.
Those details are buried inside the bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives early Monday morning and is expected to be approved by the Senate later this week. The bill to keep the U.S. aviation system running for another five years is more than 1,000 pages long, with big provisions meant to beef up long-understaffed air traffic control centers, counter a terrifying recent increase in near-collisions on runways, and double down on new rules regarding refunds from airlines when they cancel flights.
But then there are much smaller changes on tap that could affect your next trip to the airport. And in some cases, what matters even more is what Congress has decided not to do.
Bad Air Quality at Dulles?
What's that smell in the air at Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD)? Congress wants to know.
Tucked inside one of the bill's 1,069 pages, just five lines of text explicitly order a third-party study of the airport to “evaluate whether poor air quality inside the Washington Dulles International Airport passenger terminal negatively affects passengers.”
What gives? Forgive us for feeling a bit mystified. So are representatives from the airport's governing board who said they've monitored customer feedback and are “not aware of any issues on this topic,” referring us to the bill authors in Congress.
A spokesperson for Sen. Maria Cantwell – the Washington Democrat who spearheaded this legislation in the Senate – did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A previous version of her bill specifically called out “bleed air,” suggesting lawmakers were concerned about jet fumes seeping into the terminal – it's happened before at a Los Angeles (LAX) airport lounge!
Maybe the members of Congress are just overly worried about one of the two airports they use to fly back home to their districts. Oh, and there are changes on tap at the Washington, D.C. area's other airport, too.
More Long-Distance Flights from DC's Other Airport
Washington, D.C.-Reagan (DCA) is the go-to airport for tourists and politicians alike, thanks to its central location to the nation's capital. And it's an oddball.
The airport is subject to a so-called “perimeter restriction,” banning flights longer than 1,250 miles unless they're explicitly granted an (extremely limited) exemption. That means there are far fewer nonstop flights from Reagan to even major cities like Los Angeles (LAX), Denver (DEN), and Seattle (SEA) – and none at all to smaller cities.
Would adding more longer flights help travelers from out west get to D.C. and back? Sure … but it'd really help the members of Congress who fly home every few weeks, so they've been pushing hard to drastically expand the list. So have some airlines, like Delta, while others like United have resisted.
The legislation makes a classic compromise… sort of. The bill allows the airport to add five daily roundtrip flights outside that 1,250-mile perimeter – up from the current 20 roundtrip flights that are allowed.
Exactly which airports will benefit from new nonstop service (or more daily frequencies) remains to be seen. But you can safely expect the likes of American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, and United to get most of them.
And it'll happen fast: The Secretary of Transportation is directed to make a final decision no more than 60 days after the bill gets signed into law.
No Anti-Devaluation or Full Airfare Advertising Changes
Points and miles aficionados sick of airlines and their constant raising of award rates and obliterating benefits might have thought they finally had an ally – in Congress, of all places.
The Democrat-controlled Senate originally proposed a crackdown on those devaluations, requiring all airlines to provide a 90-day notice to customers before making a negative change to their mileage programs or benefits. That could potentially have made it much for United to raise award rates again or for Delta to change its Medallion Status requirements overnight.
Unfortunately, that provision didn't make the final compromise legislation – sorry, frequent flyers. On the bright side, the Department of Transportation has been separately pressuring airlines to knock it off.
But there's a serious upside in what didn't make the final cut, too.
The final bill nixes a proposal from the House that would have rolled back part of an Obama-era rule that requires airlines to display the final airfare – including taxes and fees – when advertising flight prices. Had that been adopted, airlines could have listed a lower price initially … only for travelers to click through and see a final price tag that's $40 or higher thanks to government taxes and fees.
‘Know Your Rights' Posters at Airports
Here in the U.S., we travelers have shockingly few rights.
When the airline cancels or significantly delays a flight, you're entitled to a full refund – not just a credit or voucher. A few more protections are on the way including mandatory refunds when your bags get lost or the inflight Wi-Fi is broken. But there's no guarantee that airlines feed customers or put them up in a hotel when they get stranded overnight
And it's up to you to know all of this to get what you deserve. Soon, that'll be much easier.
The legislation would require all airports across the country to display “Know Your Rights posters,” with a breakdown of travelers' legal rights in the event of delays, cancellations, oversold flights, and more. And it's not just a one-and-done at the door: These posters are required to be “displayed in conspicuous locations throughout the airport, including ticket counters, security checkpoints, and boarding gates.”
By the letter of the law, those posters will be up this time next year – or within a year of whenever the bill gets signed into law.
No Rules on Family Seat Fees or Seat Size Requirements … Yet
The Biden Administration has been hammering airlines to ensure families can sit next to their children on planes for free – without paying additional seat selection fees or higher fares to avoid basic economy.
Some airlines have answered the call, guaranteeing families can sit together no matter what kind of ticket they buy. Others like Spirit, Allegiant, and even Delta, not so much. But legislation won't make it universal – not yet, anyway.
Rather than setting it down in law through Congress, the bill directs the Department of Transportation to set rules around family seating without extra fees via the federal rulemaking process. That aligns with what the Biden administration said it was still working on just last week.
Just keep in mind these new rules won't happen overnight. The federal rulemaking process is notoriously slow. Case in point: It took more than three years for the federal government to finalize its plan to increase the cost of Global Entry later this year.
The same is true in the pushback against ever-shrinking seat sizes on planes. Whether for safety or just additional legroom, federal agencies have spent the last year sounding out travelers on whether they should draw a line, setting minimum seat sizes down into law.
Congress is punting, requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to consider creating a rule around seat sizes. But the key word there is “consider”: The legislation explicitly gives the FAA an out to decide “not to pursue the rulemaking.”
Coming Soon to TSA Lines: More Digital IDs?
Years ago, travelers started keeping their ID cards at home and using digital driver's licenses or IDs on their phones to get through airport security. But it's been slow going: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is still piloting it at select airports.
It seems like Congress wants to see that accelerate.
Toward the bottom of that 1,069-page bill, there's this: “The Administrator shall take such actions as may be necessary to accept, in any instance where an individual is required to submit government-issued identification to the Administrator, a digital or mobile driver’s license or identification card.”
It's vague, sure, yet simultaneously clear: Let's accept more mobile IDs at airports. Tap your iPhone, Apple Watch, or Android at the checkpoint, and go on through.
Unfortunately, that's not just up to the TSA. States need to participate with smartphone providers like Apple and Google to make that a reality … and few currently do. The TSA lists just seven states currently participating in its pilot program:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Utah
Regardless, it’s clear Congress wants to see more airports accepting digital IDs to speed up security lines. And surely travelers want the same.