WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate late on

Thursday overwhelmingly passed a broad aviation bill to boost

air traffic controller staffing, increase funding to avert

runway close-call incidents and speed refunds for canceled

flights.

The $105 billion, five-year measure reauthorizes the Federal

Aviation Administration. The bill prohibits airlines from

charging fees for families to sit together and requires

airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices

and directs the FAA to deploy advanced airport surface

technology to help prevent collisions.

The bill, which is expected to get final approval next week

from the U.S. House of Representatives, does not raise the

mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 as lawmakers had sought to

do last year.