US Senate unanimously passes two aviation mental health bills

The US Senate unanimously passed two bipartisan aviation mental health bills on Friday.

The first, the John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act, aims to lower barriers to seeking mental health treatment. It calls for speeding up the FAA's medical approval process, increasing funding to the Office of Aerospace Medicine, and carrying out other recommendations from the agency's Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee.

Pilots and other aviation professionals must tell the FAA about physical and psychological conditions and any medications they use. Many do not, fearing the effect on their careers.

The second bill, the Aviation Medication Transparency Act, would create a comprehensive list of medications considered safe for pilots, air traffic control specialists, and trainees. It would also specify how long holders of an FAA medical certificate would need to limit their duties or stand down while taking certain medications.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association keeps a list of medications suitable for general aviation pilots. The FAA does not have a comparable index.

The Pilot Mental Health Campaign backed both bills and described them as long-needed reform. Executive director Chris Finlayson called them landmark pieces of legislation that would begin to shift what he described as an archaic and regressive system around mental health in aviation.

Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, which co-chaired the rulemaking committee, said pilots have long faced a difficult choice between seeking necessary mental health care and keeping their careers. When pilots know reporting treatment will not sideline them for months, he said, they will come forward, giving the FAA the information it needs.