Promoting Policies for Stronger Aviation Safety and Security
By John Perkinson, Senior Staff Writer
ALPA works closely with federal regulators and lawmakers to advance policies that strengthen the safety and security of aviation and airline piloting standards in the United States and Canada. Through ALPA-PAC, Call to Action and District Advocacy programs, and the annual Legislative Summit, the Association’s Government Affairs Department and its extensive network of pilot volunteers ensure that elected government leaders know the facts before weighing in on important aviation safety and security measures.
Two active bills on Capitol Hill are the most recent examples of this ongoing, proactive effort—the House’s Cargo Flight Deck Security Act (H.R. 6190), which would mandate installing intrusion-resistant cockpit doors on all-cargo aircraft, and the Senate’s Restoring Aviation Accountability Act (S. 3337), which calls for improvements to the aircraft certification process.
The Cargo Flight Deck Security Act, introduced on March 11 by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Jesus G. “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL) would bring the airline industry one step closer to finally realizing one level of security for both passenger and all-cargo flight operations. After the events of 9/11, Congress mandated hardened cockpit doors on commercial airliners. However, the only all-cargo aircraft included in the legislation were those that at the time had cockpit doors. Most of the all-cargo aircraft manufactured since the passage of that previous legislation are not equipped with doors at all, much less strengthened, intrusion-resistant ones.
“For far too long, there has been a dangerous double standard when it comes to common safety and security provisions for cargo pilots,” said Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA’s president. The risk to security is particularly prevalent when large animals are transported. Onboard animal handlers are often equipped with dangerous animal tranquilizers in case of emergencies. These individuals aren’t airline employees, may not be U.S. citizens, and aren’t required to meet the same security background checks as other individuals with aircraft flight deck access, which significantly raises the safety risk of these flights.
“The all-cargo airline arena continues to be identified as a significant security target in our aviation system, yet current regulatory requirements allow relatively unfettered access to the cargo flight deck during flight operations,” DePete observed. “ALPA encourages Congress to pass this important bipartisan bill to mandate hardened cockpit doors on all-cargo airliners and close the gap in aviation safety loopholes for cargo pilots.”
In late February, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Edward Markey (D-MA), and Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced a bill that would authorize the federal government to implement stronger oversight of aircraft certification.
The Restoring Aviation Accountability Act would effectively reverse the previous decree allowing U.S. aircraft manufacturers to approve many of their own safety certification processes. This concern arose following the investigations of the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes involving B-737 MAX aircraft. Boeing’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, a focus of much of these investigations, appears to not have been fully examined by the FAA during certification.
Among other things, the legislation would create a special commission to review the FAA’s Organization Designation Authority—the means by which the agency uses resources at the manufacturer to assess aircraft systems and components against standards—to decide if an alternative certification approach is in order. The bill would require that pay, compensation, and bonuses for FAA employees not be contingent upon the delivery of certain numbers of aircraft or the number of audits performed and would strengthen whistleblower protections in the aviation industry.
“This bill is a safety-first measure that makes a number of improvements in the aviation system, including aircraft certification, delegated authority, and the oversight of the FAA’s certification process,” noted DePete. “In addition, the legislation more directly involves those on the front lines of keeping our skies safe—airline pilots—in the aircraft certification process. ALPA looks forward to working with other safety-minded leaders like Sen. Blumenthal to see this bill enacted into law.”
As the world’s largest nongovernmental aviation safety organization, ALPA pursues these and other policy proposals in its continued efforts to mitigate risk and ensure that North America remains the gold standard for safe and efficient air transportation.
