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By Mary Grady, AVweb

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a funding bill on Monday that aims to extend current levels of funding for the FAA through the end of next March. Currently, the FAA’s funding is set to expire on Wednesday night. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it’s expected to be voted on before the deadline, according to The Hill. When FAA funding was cut during the 2013 sequester, air traffic controllers were laid off and flights were delayed, until Congress passed a quick fix to restore funds. “We’re pleased that the House has acted to keep the FAA running,” said Jim Coon, AOPA senior vice president of government affairs. “We hope the Senate will quickly follow suit.”

Read more about the provisions of the extension on AVweb by clicking HERE.

The FAA has issued flight advisories detailing temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) in the vicinities of New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., to enable Pope Francis' scheduled visits to each city.

The FAA has issued a flight advisory for the papal visit to Washington, D.C., September 22-24. It alerts pilots that notams will be issued to modify the Washington, D.C., Special Flight Rules Area and Flight Restricted Zone with additional flight restrictions. The modifications will include the suspension of most flight waivers to operate within the flight restricted zone and Prohibited Area P-56.

The flight advisory also notes that "absolutely no drones are permitted within the Washington D.C. temporary flight restrictions."

Reacting to complaints from pilots and general aviation groups, the FAA has rescinded a NOTAM published at the start of September.

In its place the FAA is publishing new NOTAMs that specify locations, altitudes, timeframes and equipment affected. The FAA may issue more notices between now and the beginning of October warning of similar activity, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association, which along with AOPA voiced concerns about the vague nature of the notam published at the start of the September.

UPDATE: FAA Rescinds Southeast ADS-B Notam

The FAA is warning pilots flying in the Southeast that ADS-B and TCAS traffic avoidance technology will be disrupted the entire month of September from Virginia to Florida because of "military activities." 

ZNY NOTAM 5/2817 states that TCAS might fail to establish tracks on nearby aircraft and may not see aircraft that would normally trigger a TCAS resolution. False alerts, however, are not expected to be triggered during the exercise.  The FAA is advising pilots flying in the affected area to "maintain increased visual awareness" and to treat all traffic alerts as real.

The FAA will discontinue the use of the dedicated Flight Watch radio frequency 122.0 MHz on September 24, a week earlier than the previously announced end date for the En Route Flight Advisory Service (EFAS) frequency.

The FAA changed the implementation date to September 24 from October 1 because all necessary preparations will be completed earlier than planned.  Services provided by EFAS will continue to be offered over published Flight Service frequencies and on 122.2 MHz, the universal frequency for contacting Flight Service.

After its discontinuation, 122.0 MHz will be monitored for six months so pilots may be directed to other frequencies appropriate for their flight.