The Senate has
passed and the president has
signed a short-term extension of the FAA's funding authority, putting up to 74,000 people back to work and allowing the government to resume collecting $30 million per day in taxes that has been going to the airlines. Further implications of the bill are still emerging; for instance, people who flew during the shutdown after having bought tickets earlier
will not be getting tax refunds.
President Obama said in a statement:
I'm pleased that Congress has passed an agreement which will allow tens of thousands of people to return to their jobs rebuilding runways and working on construction projects all over America, while removing the uncertainty hanging over the jobs of thousands of hardworking FAA employees. This impasse was an unnecessary strain on local economies across the country at a time when we can’t allow politics to get in the way of our economic recovery. So I’m glad that this stalemate has finally been resolved.
The FAA isn't out of the woods, but right now this is very good news.