The Federal Aviation Administration will provide air-traffic controllers for AirVenture through 2022 under a nine-year agreement reached Friday with the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Under the agreement, EAA will pay the FAA for the cost of its staff’s travel, accommodations, overtime and miscellaneous expenses each year. “What’s most important for us is to ensure we had a path to be able to put on AirVenture on an annual basis over the next nine year,” said Jack Pelton, chairman of the board for EAA. “We’ve got a stake in the ground, the show will go on and we know what will cost and we can budget.”

The Oshkosh-based aviation association was forced to pay the FAA more than $450,000 last spring after the federal agency told EAA it would not provide air traffic control staff during AirVenture unless EAA covered the costs. The federal agency began charging airshows for its air-traffic control services last year as a result of federal budget cuts. EAA agreed to the payment to ensure AirVenture 2013 went off as planned, but did so under protest.

EAA also filed a lawsuit challenging the FAA’s ability to charge fees for air-traffic control services without Congressional authorization. With the agreement, paperwork was filed in the U.S. Seventh District Court of Appeals Friday morning to dismiss the lawsuit, EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski said.

Under the nine-year agreement, Pelton said EAA’s annual costs will be significant and similar to last year’s bill. Pelton also said EAA will get a credit toward AirVenture 2014 costs because of the amount it paid the FAA last year. Pelton said the agreement also calls for EAA and representatives from the FAA to sit down each year before AirVenture to assess support needs and come to an agreement on how many air traffic controllers will be needed to staff the yearly aviation convention.

The agreement also allows EAA to continue to explore less-expensive options for providing air-traffic control services through private companies, the military or volunteers. EAA looked into finding alternatives last year, but Pelton said they were not able to find organizations with the capabilities to handle for the number of aircraft that arrive and depart daily at Wittman Regional Airport during AirVenture.

U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., worked closely with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., to muster bipartisan Congressional opposition to the fee last spring. In a news release Friday, Petri said he supported EAA’s decision to come to terms with the FAA, even if he still doubts the agency has the authority to levy fees in the manner it did. “At the end of the day, the EAA felt this was the best course of action, and I support them in this decision. It was certainly not the best outcome possible, but it does give the organization and the general aviation community certainty that AirVenture will continue,” Petri said in the statement. “I continue to question the FAA’s authority to charge EAA for the costs of AirVenture and other air shows or special events, but I’m glad this moves things forward for the time being as we look for a more permanent resolution.”