Washington — Aviation labor unions are applauding the security provisions included in a bill, just lately signed into legislation by President Joe Biden, that reauthorizes funding for the Federal Aviation Administration.
In a press launch, Biden calls the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935) “a big win” for the aviation workforce. He provides that it’ll “expand critical protections for air travelers; strengthen safety standards; and support pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers.”
The bill, which secures federal funding for FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board by means of Sept. 30, 2028, consists of quite a few priorities backed by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and Air Line Pilots Association, International. Among them:
- Maintaining a 1,500-flight-hour coaching requirement for pilots
- Creating a rulemaking committee associated to requiring secondary obstacles for present passenger plane
- Updating pilot psychological well being protocols
- Strengthening protections for flight crews cooperating with accident and incident investigations
- Providing and reviewing emergency medical kits aboard plane
- Updating self-defense coaching for crew members
- Commissioning a National Academies research on radiation publicity on industrial plane
- Enhancing runway and airport alerting techniques
“We can’t overstate the importance of action on this five-year funding and priority plan for our national air transportation system,” AWA-CWA President Sara Nelson mentioned in a press launch.
Nelson provides that the event allows the trade to progress “with staffing and training for critical safety jobs like air traffic controllers and FAA safety inspectors” whereas overlaying “other safety critical issues.”
ALPA President Jason Ambrosi mentioned in a separate launch that the legislation “addresses runway and airport near misses, maintains rigorous pilot training standards, and ensures that the United States remains the global leader in aviation safety.”
