A week after U.S. Sen. John McCain watered down a bill backed by the air tour industry to increase the number of tourist flights over the Grand Canyon, the measure has found traction in the House.

U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Doney Park, introduced legislation last week to undo new growth limits on flights and flight patterns the National Park Service has proposed in the interest of reducing noise.

Gosar says his bill will save tourism jobs; it also appears likely to undercut the Park Service's plans that have been under study for several years.

The National Park Service proposes to make about two-thirds of the national park quiet for a majority of the day -- an increase from the present, which sees about half the canyon quiet for a majority of the day.

The Park Service allows 65,000 flights for tourists per year. Its new plan would increase by 8,000 the number of flights the air tour companies report they now fly.

More specifics are due out later this spring, and they could affect some hundreds of thousands of tourists who fly over the Grand Canyon annually on sightseeing trips, with provisions like flight-free curfews at sunrise and sunset and putting some areas off-limits seasonally.