FlightAware reports about 24,000 delays within, into or out of the United States the last three days — and it might get much worse for travelers. AAA expects record-breaking air travel this weekend.

Some airlines are pinning some of the blame for those delays on the Federal Aviation Administration, which operates the air traffic control system. Turns out, Congress is currently working through a bill that funds the FAA for the next five years.

Every five years, Congress decides how much money to put into the FAA’s checking account, said Maria Lehman of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

“It basically says we’re going to keep doing these programmatic things over this amount of time,” Lehman said.

She said Congress should let airports increase passenger facility charges to raise money for improvements to weather radar and taxiways. Another priority is “state of the art technology for air traffic control,” she added.

That would make better use of airspace in congested areas — and is currently missing from the bill. 

One thing the legislation does address — at least so far — is the shortage of air traffic controllers.

“To hire a controller and train a controller is a very time and money intensive process, you have to have months of training really, before you can start working flights at any given center, you can’t just transfer people around,” said David Slotnick with The Points Guy.

FAA Reauthorization also deals with the non-commercial side of things. Current provisions would do stuff like develop airport hangars and make it possible so that “volunteer pilots who assist in natural disasters or medical personnel can be reimbursed for their fuel,” said Jim Coon with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

He said the House version of the bill is the most comprehensive ever to address the needs of general aviation — planes used in medicine, business, law enforcement, agriculture and other contexts.