The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), recently testified before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation subcommittee on the importance of implementing aviation safety and security measures.
The measures were passed in 2018’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization but have not been implemented. The ALPA is dismayed by the lack of follow-though, Capt. Bob Fox, ALPA’s first vice president and national safety coordinator, said.
“A few weeks ago, the United States recognized the 18th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. Mandating the installation of secondary flight deck barriers is one of the most important and cost-effective security enhancements identified after the attacks,” Fox said. “However, rather than issuing the order as Congress intended, the FAA has bowed to a blatant stall tactic promoted by special interests and created an Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee that has now requested more study. We have the data. We know what works. It’s time to implement the law,”
The FAA was required under the reauthorization bill to issue a rule by Saturday mandating the instillation of secondary flight-deck barriers on newly manufactured passenger aircraft.
The bill also required the FAA to update its rule for pilots to wear oxygen masks above certain altitudes.