HOUSE ADVANCES BILLS ON FLIGHT DELAYS AND AVIATION MENTAL HEALTH
July 24, 2025
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On June 11, 2025, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced two legislative initiatives — one aiming to reduce flight delays and cancellations and another seeking to improve mental health within the aviation industry. The first bill, Ensuring Airline Resiliency to Reduce Delays and Cancellations Act, would direct the Department to require U.S. air carriers to develop and regularly update “operational resiliency” strategies to mitigate flight disruptions in the event of issues (e.g., severe weather). In light of several recent computer outages which left millions of passengers stranded, a covered air carrier’s operational resiliency strategy would be required to explain the extent to which the airline addresses known cybersecurity risks and information technology deficiencies. If enacted, the flight disruption legislation would also authorize the U.S. Comptroller General to conduct periodic audits of airline operational resiliency strategies to evaluate effectiveness and compliance with applicable federal regulations. The Mental Health in Aviation Act would provide funding for the FAA to recruit additional aviation medical examiners and clear a backlog of “special issuance” requests. Advocates are concerned that pilots and air traffic controllers seeking mental health care are unfairly penalized under the current system such that FAA regulations should be revised to bolster access to mental health care for pilots and air traffic controllers.
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