Keep America Flying Act of 2026

The bill sets up automatic, temporary funding for certain FAA and TSA workers if Congress has not passed full-year or interim spending bills for fiscal year 2026. It applies starting October 1, 2025, which is the start of that fiscal year. For the FAA, it provides “such sums as are necessary” to continue normal pay, benefits, and related payments for air traffic controllers and other essential operational staff needed to keep the national airspace system running safely and in an orderly way. It also allows payments to FAA contractors, but only if the Secretary of Transportation decides they are directly supporting those essential personnel. For the TSA, it similarly provides whatever funds are needed to continue regular pay, benefits, and related payments for employees who do passenger and baggage screening, aviation security work, or mission-support duties needed for airport security screening under federal law. It also covers payments to TSA contractors that the TSA Administrator (or Acting Administrator) decides are supporting those workers. Any money spent under this bill would later be “charged” to whatever regular FAA and TSA appropriations Congress eventually passes. The special funding ends when regular or continuing appropriations that cover these purposes are enacted, when a funding law for the year is passed that does not include money for these purposes, or on September 30, 2026, whichever happens first. The bill states it is legally effective as if it took effect on September 30, 2025, so it fully covers the start of fiscal year 2026.

The bill focuses on keeping key parts of the air travel system functioning during a federal government shutdown. Air traffic controllers and TSA screening staff are central to flight safety and airport security, so continued pay and support can affect whether they are able and required to keep working in those periods. This can matter for travelers, airlines, airports, and freight companies, because past shutdowns have led to staffing strain and delays when pay was interrupted even though some staff still had to work. The bill could reduce uncertainty for these workers and their supporting contractors during FY 2026. The bill also has budget and policy effects. It commits the federal government to pay these specific costs even if broader spending decisions are delayed, and then to account for those costs in later appropriations. The wider impact on federal budgeting and on how future shutdowns are experienced by the public is not specified in the text and would depend on how often and how long any shutdowns occur.

• Provides automatic, temporary funding for fiscal year 2026 when regular or interim appropriations are not yet in place.
• Covers standard pay, allowances, differentials, benefits, and other regular payments for essential FAA operational personnel, including air traffic controllers.
• Covers standard pay, allowances, differentials, benefits, and other regular payments for TSA employees doing security screening, aviation security duties, or related mission-support functions.
• Authorizes payments to FAA contractors that the Secretary of Transportation deems are supporting essential operational personnel.
• Authorizes payments to TSA contractors that the TSA Administrator or Acting Administrator deems are supporting covered TSA personnel.
• Uses open-ended “such sums as are necessary” language rather than specifying a fixed dollar amount.
• Requires that all spending under this Act be charged to the relevant FAA or TSA appropriations once those are later enacted.
• Funding authority under the bill ends when related appropriations are enacted, when a funding law is enacted without such appropriations, or on September 30, 2026, whichever comes first.
• States that the Act is effective as if enacted on September 30, 2025, to cover the start of fiscal year 2026.
• As of the provided text, the bill has been read twice in the Senate and placed on the Senate calendar (Calendar No. 205).

• The bill covers not only government employees but also selected FAA and TSA contractors, as determined by agency leadership, which could influence which outside firms remain active during a shutdown.
• By making the law effective as if enacted on September 30, 2025, it can apply to a shutdown that has already started before the bill is passed, allowing retroactive payments.
• The bill does not create new aviation or security programs; it only continues existing pay and operations in a specific shutdown context, but it does so with no fixed dollar limit.
• Termination is tied both to the presence or absence of related appropriations in later laws and to a fixed end date, which may create different outcomes depending on how broader spending bills are written.