Duckworth rips off Sinema for a proposal that would require pilots to have less training to fly commercially

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth attacked Senator Kyrsten Sinema and John Thune for an amendment they proposed to reduce the number of flight hours pilots would need to fly commercially.

Duckworth accused Sinema, I-Ariz., and Thune, RS.D., of caring more about “corporate profits,” saying they’ll have “blood on your hands” if the amendment passes as part of the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) reauthorization.

“Now is not the time to put corporate profits before the lives of our constituents who may want to board a commercial flight in the future,” said Duckworth, Illinois, a former army helicopter pilot who chairs an aviation safety subcommittee.

‘A vote in favour [change the training rules] for pilots it means blood on your hands if the inevitable accident occurs as a result of an insufficiently trained flight crew.’

For Duckworth, flight accidents are personal: She lost both her legs in 2004 when a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents hit the Black Hawk helicopter she was flying – making her the first American female double amputee of the Iraq War.

The Senate and House must agree to reauthorize the FAA. The Senate Commerce Committee unveiled its own version of the $108 billion bill this week.

Sinema’s proposed amendment forced the Commerce Committee to delay a vote on the massive aviation policy bill. Since Democrats have only a slim majority in the Senate, Sinema and the Republicans on the panel could have forced an amendment to the bill.

Smaller regional airlines have pushed for a change to the 1,500 training hours requirement before flying a commercial aircraft.

The Regional Airline Association, which represents smaller, domestic airlines, supported rule changes to help with a shortfall of about 5,000 pilots.

The change would allow certain types of training programs to be weighted more heavily toward the 1,500-hour requirement — but also requires the FAA to demonstrate that any changes to the curriculum will improve safety. It is very similar to one that the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has already approved.

“Most pilots only have access to an hour-based pilot qualification standard, which includes little actual training after completing flight school,” the RAA said in a statement this spring.

But the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents some 74,000 pilots, said in a letter to senators on Thursday that the change “undermines the current aviation safety regime that has resulted in aviation’s safest period in history.”

The association said the amendment would allow some pilots to fly with as little as 500 hours of training, a return to pre-2010 standards before Congress revised training requirements.

“It was this embarrassing era of training pilots quickly and cheaply and the ensuing series of tragic accidents, including Flight 3407 outside Buffalo, NY, that Congress made all the changes,” the group wrote. In 2009, a flight en route to Buffalo crashed into the ground, killing all 49 on board.

Sinema spokesperson Hannah Hurley denied that the amendment would compromise safety.

“This widely supported bipartisan amendment allows the FAA to determine the safest way to train pilots and continues Kyrsten’s laser focus on increasing aviation safety.”

The proposal comes after a spate of near misses this year that prompted the FAA to issue an “urgent safety alert” and hold an impromptu safety halt amid rising passenger concerns.

“There has never been a worse time to consider watering down pilot certification requirements to produce less experienced pilots,” Duckworth said.

Senators say this year’s FAA reauthorization will focus on strengthening safety and customer service as the industry tries to capitalize on rising demand following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nearly three-quarters of the money in the 461-page blueprint would go to key safety programs at the FAA, while new rules would require airlines to offer refunds if a domestic flight is delayed at least three hours or an international flight is delayed at least six hours.