Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009

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Written by Administrator
Saturday, 01 August 2009 17:12

A new bill presented to congress is aimed at improving airline safety by imposing higher minimums and more thorough screening for first officer hiring.

H.R. 3371: Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009 was introduced on July 29, 2009 by Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL12). If approved, the proposed bill will toughen minimum requirements for hiring and screening airline pilots. Among the highlights that will affect new commercial pilots are the requirements for an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license and a minimum total time of 1500 hours. Currently no minimum hour requirements are specified by the government for he hiring of new first officers beyond the 250 hours required for their commercial license. Captains in 121 airline operations, however, are required to hold an ATP (A pilot needs a minimum of 1500 hours to qualify for an ATP).

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt thinks that the bill is a bad idea. "The quality of training is far more important than the quantity of training or total time". The requirement for 1500 hours and an ATP are redundant in his view while the current and planned safety plans conducted by the FAA should do the job.

Among the bill's highlights:

Implementation of NTSB training recommendations including stall recoveries, stick pusher activation and weather events.
Improvements to the FAA pilot records database.
Flight crew member mentoring by pairing with highly experienced pilots.
Crewmember screening - all pilots would require an ATP and "appropriate multi-engine aircraft flight experience, as determined by the Administrator." (within 3 years of enacting the bill).
Matching the academic requirements of ground school training to other countries. (14 written exams as in Europe?)
Creation of new safety programs.
Improving rules concerning pilot fatigue.

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