Letter to the Hon. John Thune and the Hon. Bill Nelson, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee - Expressing Support for Current Pilot and First Officer Training and Qualification Requirements for Part 121 Airline Pilots in FAA Reauthorization Bill
Letter
Dear Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson,
We write to express our strong support for the current pilot and first officer training and qualification requirements for Part 121 airline pilots, and oppose the inclusion of any change that would reduce those requirements in the next Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill.
In February, 2009, Colgan Air flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York, killing all 49 passengers and crew onboard, as well as one person on the ground, and alerted the nation to shortfalls in our aviation safety system, particularly at the regional airline level. In the wake of this horrific tragedy and following subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Bureau and numerous congressional hearings, Congress passed the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. This law required the FAA to issue new safety regulations governing pilot fatigue, training and minimum qualifications, including duty time and rest requirements and a requirement that all prospective commercial pilots have 1,500 hours of flight time before receiving an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate. Since these regulations have been in place, 3,050 days have passed without a fatal crash on a U.S. domestic carrier. Prior to that, the previous longest period without a fatal commercial crash was 900 days.
We are concerned that the airline industry is now falsely claiming that in order to maintain a stable commercial pilot workforce, some of the most effective safety standards, including the requirement that commercial co-pilots have 1,500 flight hours of total time as a pilot before being certified, must be watered down or rolled back. We believe that is a false choice that will severely jeopardize the safety of the flying public. Experts across the country, including Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger of "Miracle on the Hudson,' perhaps the greatest example of how lives can be saved when pilots are properly trained, has cited the important lessons learned from Colgan Air flight 3407 and urged Congress not to allow these critical safety rules to be weakened.
As the airline industry points to an unstable commercial pilot workforce, the commercial airline industry has reported an after-tax net profit for the past 16 consecutive quarters, including a net profit of $1.9 billion for the first quarter of 2017, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Yet despite these massive profits, regional airline pilot compensation remains remarkably low --- first officers earning as little as $20,000 with an average of $44,000 per year. While we reject whole heartedly the notion that there is a shortage of pilots, even if there is, the simplest and safest solution would be for regional airlines to increase compensation and support for pilots, not water down safety standards and create a race to the bottom for pilot qualifications.
Congress did the right thing for the safety of the flying public by establishing one level of safety for all passengers and crews in 2010. We cannot now turn our backs on those who fought so hard to ensure that no other families would have to go through the horror endured due to inadequately trained, fatigued, and underqualified pilots. We strongly urge you to continue to bolster its Colgan Air flight 3407 regulations and reject any changes that would scale back or eliminate the 1,500 hour, pilot fatigue, and pilot training regulations in the FAA reauthorization bill.
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator
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