Congress: Prioritize Safety in FAA Reauthorization
Resist Efforts to Weaken Key Air Safety Regulations
Maintaining U.S. ‘Gold Standard’ Should Top Policymakers’ Priority List
The latest: Congress must pass a new FAA reauthorization bill before the current extension of the law expires on Dec. 31. The stakes for air safety couldn’t be higher, as special interests lobby lawmakers for changes to the law that would weaken training requirements, increase the retirement age and attempt to reduce qualified pilots on the flight deck.
The danger: Citing a (fake) “pilot shortage,” some in the industry are lobbying lawmakers to weaken the training standards and qualifications law responsible for the U.S.’s exemplary air safety record. This life-saving rule has been the standard for pilot training since 2010, after the crash of Flight 3407 and a series of other tragic accidents spurred Congress to act and adopt a comprehensive set of requirements to improve training for pilots. Any reduction would erode the important safety standards that the public takes for granted and should be stopped.
What’s really going on: There are more than enough pilots to meet current demand and thousands more are in the pipeline. Those claiming otherwise are more interested in cutting costs to maximize profits, even by sacrificing passenger safety.
Why this is wrong: The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010, which strengthened training requirements and qualifications, is the most effective aviation safety law of this century. Weakening it is a recipe for disaster.
The system is working: Since the regulations were implemented, the United States has seen a 99.8 percent reduction in airline fatalities compared to the previous decade. “Before 2010, we as a nation set the safety bar too low. We must never allow this to happen again,” ALPA President Captain Jason Ambrosi commented at a press conference on Capitol Hill.
We’ve been here before: During the drafting of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, some stakeholders pushed to lower pilot training requirements and qualifications.
What is happening now: The industry is advancing a similar strategy, pushing for a similar reduction in training hours, the creation of less-safe alternate pathways to becoming a pilot and reducing the number of qualified pilots on the flight deck.
Less safe certifications: These programs create short-term “certificates” that rapidly churn out pilot certificates rather than creating the best possible pilot.
Raising pilot retirement age: Some special interest groups want to arbitrarily increase the mandatory pilot retirement age from 65 to 67. This will lead to higher ticket costs, create crew scheduling programs, cause operational disruptions, upend collective bargaining agreements, and put the United States out of compliance with international standards.
Reducing the number of qualified pilots on the flight deck: The most vital safety feature on any airliner is having at least two experienced, highly trained and well-rested pilots on the flight deck. Yet, some stakeholders are trying to claim that there would be no safety impact if qualified pilots were removed to lower operational costs.
The bottom line: As Congress continues work on the FAA reauthorization bill, it should have one priority above all others: any new system, or change in procedure or regulation must maintain or improve upon the current level of safety, not erode it.
