WASHINGTON—Capt. Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), commended Congress on final passage of a five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after the House voted 387-26 to send the measure to the President.
“Today’s final passage of the FAA reauthorization bill is a major step forward for the safety and security of our nation’s skies. By beating back efforts to lower standards and advancing the protections that have created the safest period in aviation history, we will further strengthen our industry and keep flying safe for passengers, cargo, and crew.
“We are grateful for the overwhelming bipartisan support in the House and Senate, and for the thousands of ALPA members who worked tirelessly to ensure this deal maintains our world-leading pilot-training standards and rejects attempts to arbitrarily raise the pilot retirement age, which would have introduced uncertainty into the U.S. aviation system and interfered with collectively bargained agreements.
“ALPA strongly advocated for key provisions that were included in the final bill, including measures to break down barriers, open up opportunities to ensure a robust and qualified pipeline of aviators, and provide air-service support for those living in rural and small communities without lowering the bar on safety. The final bill also advances the ball on requiring secondary flight deck barriers for existing passenger aircraft, enhances runway and airport alerting systems and directs the FAA to develop a standardized system for voluntarily reporting smoke and fume events on passenger-carrying aircraft.”
