For Release: Friday, July 30, 2010
Contact: David Gillies: 202-225-5661

HOUSE PASSES FAA EXTENSION WITH COSTELLO PILOT SAFETY PROVISIONS

WASHINGTON – U.S. House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-IL) hailed last night’s House passage of H.R. 5900, the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. This legislation provides a two-month extension of the FAA reauthorization bill through the end of September and includes the strongest aviation safety provisions in 50 years. These provisions have been carefully negotiated with the Senate and are similar to the language contained in H.R. 3371, the Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009, which was authored by Costello and passed the House by an overwhelming majority in October 2009.

H.R. 5900 was introduced after many congressional hearings and roundtable discussions, and with input from the families of those who perished in the Colgan Flight 3407 accident in Buffalo, pilot groups, airlines, the National Safety Transportation Board, the Department of Transportation Inspector General, and Members of Congress. The bill:

• Strengthens pilot training requirements and qualifications by increasing the minimum number of flight hours required to be hired as an airline pilot. Pilots would now be required to have an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, which is currently only mandatory for an airline captain. The ATP requires a minimum of 1,500 flight hours and additional aeronautical knowledge, crew resource management training and greater flight proficiency testing.
• Creates stronger ATP qualitative minimum requirements such as flying in adverse weather conditions, including icing conditions, and requires the FAA to create and maintain an electronic Pilot Records Database. The database will allow an airline to quickly access an applicant’s comprehensive record for hiring purposes only.
• Requires all Internet Web sites that sell airline tickets to show, on the first web page display, the name of the air carrier operating each flight segment of a proposed itinerary.

Costello praised the Colgan families, calling them a “powerful, driving force” behind this legislation and thanking them for their persistence. He also emphasized that passage of this bill, which is expected to clear the Senate this week, should not detract from House and Senate efforts to finalize a comprehensive FAA reauthorization bill.

“For the last 17 months, the Colgan families have come to Washington, D.C. over 30 times at their own expense to push for safety improvements and ensure that the lessons of this tragic event are not forgotten and are enacted into law,” said Costello. “I am pleased that we are very close to validating this tremendous effort. At the same time, there are many important provisions in the larger bill, and I am committed to passing a comprehensive, multi-year FAA reauthorization bill so that we can provide stability to the FAA and our national aviation system.”

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