STORY: The U.S. Senate passed a sweeping civil aviation bill late Thursday, meant to deliver safer flying in the country...
Among other measures, it calls for...
... hiring more air traffic controllers...
...faster refunds for cancelled flights
... and steps to avert runway close-call incidents.
The House of Representatives is expected to approve the $105 billion, five-year measure next week.
It comes after an uptick in near-miss incidents...
... and a high profile mid-air blowout in January, involving an Alaska Airlines jet.
The legislation requires airliners to be fitted with 25-hour cockpit recording devices, up from the current two hours.
It also calls on the Federal Aviation Administration to deploy advanced technology to help prevent collisions.
The bill also directs the FAA, and the safety investigation agency, the National Transportation Safety Board, to hire more staff.
Other provisions include banning airlines from charging fees for families to sit together, ensuring quick refunds for canceled flights, and raising maximum penalties for airline consumer violations.
However, it leaves rules on minimum seat size to the FAA, and does not raise the mandatory retirement age for pilots to 67 - a move which lawmakers had previously sought.
