"I am pleased to announce that we have been able to broker a bipartisan compromise between the House and the Senate to put 74,000 transportation and construction workers back to work," Reid said in a statement.

"This agreement does not resolve the important differences that still remain. But I believe we should keep Americans working while Congress settles its differences, and this agreement will do exactly that," he said.

The FAA partially shut down on July 23 due to an impasse over temporary funding for the agency. The Senate failed to approve an extension of taxes that help fund the agency, which was passed by the House.

The stalemate centers on disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over a program that subsidizes commercial air service to rural airports. But reports indicated the real fight is over federal rules on labor elections in the airline industry.

Under the arrangement, the Senate will pass the House bill by unanimous consent that temporarily allows the FAA to restore normal operation and cuts subsidies paid to rural airports. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will then use his authority to waive the subsidy reduction.

President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, calling it "an important step forward."

"I'm pleased that leaders in Congress are working together to break the impasse ... We can't afford to let politics in Washington hamper our recovery, so this is an important step forward," Obama said in a statement.