Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) ripped into Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) over the latter’s proposal to relax training requirements for commercial pilots.
While the commercial airline industry faces a pilot shortage, Sinema put forth a proposal that would change how new pilots are trained. But Duckworth, an Army veteran helicopter pilot, says that putting corporate interests ahead of aviation safety would have dangerous effects on anyone getting on a plane:
Simply put, reducing hours even just for restricted [airline transport pilots], represents a serious risk with no reward. It represents an unacceptable backsliding, a dangerous complacency in an industry where complacency kills. As chair of the aviation safety subcommittee, as a professional aviator, as a private pilot, I am holding the line on safety. …[T]here has not been a single aviation fatality due to pilot error since the 1,500-hour rule was put into effect. Now is not the time to put corporate profits ahead of the lives of our constituents who may want to board a commercial flight in the future. A vote to reduce a 1,500-hour rule for pilot training will mean blood on your hands when an inevitable accident occurs as the result of an inadequately trained flight crew.”
According to Politico, President Joe Biden and Democrats both support keeping the rules in place. Republicans believe that making it easier for potential new pilots to meet training requirements will help remedy the pilot shortage. Sinema, who was elected