US: FAA extension expected to last until year-end

With just 11 working days remaining for the US Congress to pass legislation reauthorizing the FAA, industry observers are expecting the most likely path forward to be another short-term extension that would last through the end of the year. That would give Congress a window to pass the bill following mid-term elections in November, although a failure to do so would mean that a new Congress would have to start the process from scratch in January with a new bill. To avoid the prospect of another extension, the Senate would need to pass its bill and reconcile differences with the House in a conference committee by Sept 30—a possibility that appears even more remote when considering the last multi-year FAA bill took 3 full months to conference. <br/>