Schumer, 3407 Families Call for Strongest Version Of ATP Safety Provision to be Included in Final FAA Reauthorization Bill

Press Release

Today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, joined by the families of the victims of flight 3407, called on key committee leaders to include the strongest version of co-pilot training legislation in the reconciled version of the House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills. Provisions in both the House and Senate versions of the reauthorization bill require commercial co-pilots to have a certain number of experience hours before they can work on a commercial flight. The House provision requires 1500 hours and the Senate provision requires 800 hours -- the current minimum is 250 hours. Schumer and the 3407 families today called on the leaders of key committees to include the House provision in the reconciled version of the bills.

Schumer brokered a compromise to have the safety provision included in the Senate version of FAA reauthorization, ensuring that a dramatic increase in required flight hours would be included in the final bill. Schumer and the 3407 families are now fighting for the strongest possible provision to be enacted into law.

"Every day we are getting closer to having a strong law that will vastly improve the training for flight crews across the country and improve safety for all passengers," said Schumer. "Both the House and Senate bills have provisions that greatly strengthen the experience requirements for co-pilots, and now is the time to push for the regulations to be as strong as possible. We are almost at the finish line and the 3407 families and Senators Rockefeller and Dorgan deserve tremendous credit for their strong leadership and hard work on this issue."

"At these last stages of the process we are fighting to make sure that the final bill includes the strongest safety measures that speak to a true one level of safety," said Kevin Kuwik, who lost his whose girlfriend, Lorin Maurer. "With Senator Schumer's help, we will make sure passengers flying from regional airlines receive a well qualified pilot and crew."

In March, Schumer announced that a version of his legislation, The Enhancing Flight Crewmembers' Training Act, had been included in the manager's amendment of the FAA Reauthorization bill. Schumer's provision will mandate that FAA conduct a rulemaking for co-pilots, which must be completed by 12/31/2011. FAA's rulemaking must include a requirement that co-pilots have 800 hours of flying experience, which must be met in specific conditions. If FAA does not complete the rulemaking on time, then co-pilots will have to get an ATP license, which is 1500 hours of flight experience in specifically-prescribed conditions.

Having this provision included in the Senate FAA Reauthorization bill ensured that the final reconciled bill would greatly increase the amount of co-pilot experience and improve safety for passengers. It also laid the ground work for the strongest possible provision to be included in the final bill. Today Schumer and the 3407 families are calling on the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate's Commerce Committee and House's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who are shaping the final bill, to include the House's 1500 hour requirement.

Schumer originally introduced S.1744, the Enhancing Flight Crewmembers' Training Act in October as a standalone bill, with the intent to attach it to the bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. The legislation has twelve co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, including Senators Gillibrand, Lieberman, Leahy, Casey, Collins, Snowe, Kerry, Wyden, Brown (MA), Merkley, Burris, and Risch.

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