ASTA Urges Congress to Modify FAA Reauthorization Bill

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) is urging the U.S. Congress to moderately modify the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Bill of 2023. 

In a Feb. 7 letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, ASTA CEO Zane Kerby commended the bill but advocated that it “could be strengthened in ways that recognize the value of travel advisors and their role in protecting consumers.” 

The provisions that ASTA has proposed include clarifying travel agency refund obligations and removing travel agencies from refund portal requirement, adding a travel agency seat to the DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (ACPAC), exempting corporate travel agencies from ancillary fee disclosure requirements, and streamlining disclosures in offline ticket transactions. 

“ASTA was pleased to see that the committee agreed to an amendment package which adds a ticket agent seat to the ACPAC, and we thank Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) for championing this provision,” ASTA said. “ASTA is committed to ensuring our remaining policy priorities, as detailed in our letter, are included in any final FAA Reauthorization bill, and we will be working closely with members of Congress on the conference committee to accomplish this goal.” 

The last Senate hearing of the FAA Reauthorization bill was held on Feb. 8. The legislation passed in the House in July 2023 and, when passed by the Senate, will reauthorize the FAA for the next five years.