Former FAA Administrators & Aviation Leaders Agree: Sinema & Thune’s FAA Reauthorization Amendment Strengthens America’s Airspace

Sep 14, 2023

In a letter, every former Senate-confirmed FAA Administrator and two former Presidents of Airline Pilots Association underscored how ‘advanced simulators produce safer pilots without compromise’

WASHINGTON – Eight former FAA Administrators and two former Presidents of the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) highlighted how the adoption of tested and trusted new technologies will strengthen American airspace safety in a letter to U.S. Senate and House committee leaders.

The policy positions expressed in the letter support U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and John Thune’s (R-S.D.) bipartisan amendment to the FAA Reauthorization legislation that improves aviation safety by allowing the FAA to investigate and approve ways to make pilot training more diverse, practical, and robust, such as crediting the use of tested and proven advanced simulator training as part of a comprehensive pilot training regime.

“We’re ensuring America continues to have the safest airspace in the world by allowing the adoption of safe, tested, and proven pilot training methods – such as advanced simulation training. In times of high demand for air travel, we’re ensuring America adapts and strengthens its airspace for a safer, affordable, and efficient air travel experience for Americans,” said Sinema, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and former chair of the Senate Aviation Subcommittee.

“Flight simulation and training technology has significantly improved in the last decade,” said Thune. “Providing prospective pilots, many of whom already have valuable flight experience, including through existing avenues to complete their 1,500-hour requirement, is commonsense. It’s a conclusion that many in Congress have already reached, but this bipartisan letter proves that you don’t need to take our word for it – there’s a broad consensus about the advantage this kind of technology could provide to both airline safety and reducing the ongoing pilot shortage. We should consider these kinds of policy changes through regular order without delay.”

The letter was signed by former FAA Administrators appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents: Randy Babbit, Marion Blakey, Steve Dickson, Dan Elwell, Jane Garvey, Michael Huerta, Allan McArtor, and Billy Nolen, as well as former ALPA President Lee Moak (a position Babbit also held). The signatories include every Senate-confirmed FAA Administrator in the past twenty years.

The aviation experts detail why the required 1,500-hour training rule must evolve, which is what Sinema and Thune’s amendment would help do, to incorporate advances in training technology that improve the safety and quality of future commercial pilots in order to achieve the best training outcomes.

With increased aviation demand, an increasingly complex airspace, and a recent series of concerning near-misses on American runways, responsible pilot training policy must employ fast-changing technology. The former FAA Administrators write: “modern, state-of-the-art flight simulators accurately recreate the experience of flight operations in a fully immersive experience, forcing pilots to encounter aircraft malfunctions, including rare events like rapid decompressions, emergency descents, high-speed rejected takeoffs, dual engine failures, severe icing conditions, flight control malfunctions and full stalls, all without placing any lives in danger.”

Ultimately these bipartisan experts and pilot leaders conclude that with proper safeguards like those in Sinema and Thune’s amendment “advanced simulators produce safer pilots without compromise.”

In August, Sinema and Thune published an op-ed detailing how their amendment ensures America’s airspace remains the safest in the world.

Full text of letter below. Click HERE for digital copy of the letter.

Dear Chair Cantwell, Chairman Graves, Chair Duckworth, Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Cruz, Ranking Member Larsen, Ranking Member Moran, and Ranking Member Cohen:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) holds the preeminent responsibility for ensuring the safety and reliability of the aviation industry. The United States is the worldwide leader in aviation innovation and must continue to push for the highest standards. Continuous safety improvement in a constantly changing technological environment is a huge challenge, one in which policymakers, regulators, operators, and manufacturers all play a role. To that end, facilitating the adoption of new technologies that enhance safety should be a bedrock principle for government and industry alike.

As Congress debates the FAA reauthorization this year, the Senate Commerce Committee remains at an impasse over issues related to the regulations that govern how future pilots are trained and how they accrue the necessary experience to become an airline pilot. However, to date, the current debate has focused primarily on whether to maintain the 1,500-hour rule implemented in 2012. From our perspective, the 1,500-hour rule and its various provisions are a good thing. Policymakers must continue to ensure advances in training technology improve the safety and quality of future commercial pilots, so that the 1,500 hours are used toward the best training outcomes.

Since the tragic crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 almost 15 years ago, there have been significant advances in technology that are incorporated into a pilot’s training upon an airline hiring them, but these technologies have not improved the 1,500-hour path to becoming an airline pilot.

Modern, state-of-the-art flight simulators accurately recreate the experience of flight operations in a fully immersive experience, forcing pilots to encounter aircraft malfunctions, including rare events like rapid decompressions, emergency descents, high-speed rejected takeoffs, dual engine failures, severe icing conditions, flight control malfunctions and full stalls, all without placing any lives in danger. Simulators also present the opportunity to incorporate actual accident and incident scenarios into mainline training. Furthermore, the newest simulators are much less expensive to purchase and operate, lowering barriers to entry into the profession, and opening up high quality training to a wider group of aspiring pilots. Incorporating this type of realistic training and experience in a structured and controlled way will add to the existing margin of safety in commercial operations. Despite these benefits, regulations today only permit a small fraction of an ATP candidate’s experience to be in these types of advanced simulators.

Simulators also present the opportunity to incorporate actual accident and incident scenarios into training. For example, we believe all pilots should be required to fly scenarios similar to those resulting in the Colgan accident, not just once but dozens of times, and to show appropriate response actions for that aircraft in the simulator before being granted an ATP certificate. They should experience the factors that led to that tragedy and successfully recover, so that such an accident can never happen again. There should be a continuous feedback loop so that as new errors, whether they be mechanical, environmental or pilot-induced, from FAA and NTSB investigations and recommendations, are rapidly incorporated back into training. For example, if such scenario-based simulator training was a routine part of gaining the 1,500 hours required for the ATP, we could now require updated training on the kinds of scenarios that have led to the recent rash of runway incursion near-misses. Like training for an athletic endeavor, a high volume of repetitions of high-quality exercises improves performance and “muscle memory”. Requiring the repeated practice of the prevention of and recovery from myriad real-world accident scenarios in full-motion flight simulators will make better pilots.

As pilot training technology evolves, it is the responsibility of the FAA and policy makers to evolve with it. Today, simulators are used worldwide for training by most commercial airlines and are approved by global aviation regulators. Pilot training and simulation technology advances have prompted the U.S. Air Force to more than triple the amount of simulator training for its new pilots. Policymakers and the FAA hold military pilot training and fight experience in such high regard that a pilot leaving the military for an airline pilot job needs only 750 hours of total military time instead of the 1,500 hours required for an Air Transport Pilot certificate. In effect, credit is given for the superior training provided by the military, which includes significant emphasis on simulator training.

Modern training systems keep performance data to allow better evaluation of a pilot’s performance, and scenarios can be repeated until the skills have been mastered. Evaluation of performance data is not feasible for the vast majority of the unstructured 1,500 hours of aeronautical experience gained in aircraft under today’s regulatory framework, particularly when much of that time can be attained without the presence of a qualified instructor.

Advanced simulators produce safer pilots without compromise. This training, especially when conducted as part of an FAA-approved syllabus, prepares pilots in a controlled and structured way, above and beyond “accumulation of flight hours” and cannot be ignored.

We must continue our work to move the ball forward on aviation safety, and advanced simulator training should be a critical component of those efforts.

The flying public expects and deserves experienced pilots trained with the most advanced tools available. Their safety should be in the hands of pilots who have benefited from the extensive use of advanced simulators.

Thank you for your consideration of our views and we stand ready to work collaboratively to move forward on aviation safety.

Sincerely,

Randy Babbit