Washington, DC

House moves forward on key bills promoting advanced air mobility, workforce development

The National Business Aviation Association has applauded action taken in the US House of Representatives on two key pieces of aviation legislation - one, a bill focused on accelerating the growth of advanced air mobility (AAM), the other, a measure establishing a groundbreaking workforce-development initiative.

Both bills were reviewed and approved on Thursday (28th April) by the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, a key step in the congressional legislative process.

The first bill, the Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act (AAIM Act), authorizes funding to for and eventually build critical new AAM infrastructure, by leveraging existing vertiports and other public transportation facilities to support AAM operations and fosters community engagement programs to introduce the new technologies to a diverse set of communities.

The proposal, H.R. 6270, was first introduced last December by T&I Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Rick Larsen (D-2-WA), Ranking Aviation Subcommittee Member Garret Graves (R-6-LA) and Rep. Dina Titus (D-1-NV). The bipartisan measure was immediately met with strong support from NBAA and a broad group of stakeholders, including NBAA’s AAM Roundtable, a group of high-level sector leaders charting a course for integration of the pioneering technologies into the nation’s airspace and infrastructure.

“We thank Reps. Larsen, Graves and Titus for their leadership in introducing this important legislation, and their House colleagues for their strong support for the advancement of these pioneering on-demand aviation technologies,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen.

The second bill acted on by the House T&I committee establishes a National Center for the Advancement of Aviation, which will bring together stakeholders from across the military and private sectors, in part to provide STEM-focused resources to high school and collegiate curriculum developers.

The bill, H.R. 3482, was introduced in May 2021 by Rep. Andre Carson (D-7-IN) and the late Rep. Don Young (R-At Large-AK), who passed away in March. Companion legislation in the US Senate was introduced in Feb. 2020 by Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).

“NBAA is totally committed to promoting the development of our industry’s future workforce and we look forward to doing all we can to ensure passage of this legislation,” Bolen said.

Both bills will now move to the House floor for deliberation.