YourVoice.Now Summary
Workers & JobsTransparency & AccountabilityCorporate BenefitsRequires gear that warns airline pilots of nearby planes within four years, and shields FAA jobs from cuts.
Workers & Jobs
Any government-wide freeze on federal hiring would have to leave the FAA out. Freezes applied to FAA jobs since January 20, 2025 would be undone.
The FAA could not run a layoff round or shrink its number of full-time jobs. Paid resignation offers and voluntary furloughs would also have to skip FAA staff.
A 2024 law tells the FAA to hire as many controller trainees each year as its academy can train. That order would run five more years, through 2033.
Colleges with approved air traffic programs would have to teach at FAA academy level. Graduates who score well on the entrance test could be hired without competing for the slot.
Union-picked representatives would sit on the expert panel that reviews FAA safety work. They would also take part in the airport airspace reviews.
Transparency & Accountability
Government planes may now switch off location broadcasting for missions called sensitive. A watchdog would review how agencies use that exception, and the FAA could stop misuse.
The FAA would have to run its formal risk study after any deadly crash of a large passenger or cargo plane. Today that study is aimed at design problems, and the notice to Congress is optional.
An independent panel would judge how well the FAA runs its own safety system. Its report, plus any member's written disagreement, would go on the FAA website.
The Transportation Department watchdog would check whether the FAA acts on safety complaints from staff. The audit could not reveal who filed a complaint.
The Transportation Secretary would have to order strict compliance with the federal conflict-of-interest law. A watchdog would then list any waivers granted for department and FAA staff or contracts.
The panel would sit outside the law that opens federal advisory groups to the public. Its meetings and records would not have to be open, though its final report would be posted.
Corporate Benefits
Passenger airlines and scheduled charter flights would have to fit and run ADS-B In gear on every plane. It shows pilots nearby traffic and warns them of a possible collision.
More about this bill
Airlines would have to add cockpit gear that warns pilots of nearby planes, within four years. The deadline would hold whether or not the FAA writes the rules first. The bill would also narrow when government aircraft may fly without broadcasting where they are. Training flights, routine flights, and flights carrying officials below Cabinet rank would no longer qualify. The FAA would set up an office to coordinate military flights with civilian air traffic. That office would first review helicopter, drone, and military flight paths around Reagan National Airport, within 120 days. Reviews at the nation's other busiest airports would follow over the next several years. After a deadly crash of a large passenger or cargo plane, the FAA would run a formal risk study. It would have to report the results to Congress within 30 days. FAA staff would be shielded from hiring freezes, layoffs, and resignation buyout offers. Hiring freezes at the agency since January 20, 2025 would be reversed. Firings of newer FAA employees since February 14, 2025 would get an outside review. The FAA could not cut its total number of jobs. Full-speed hiring of air traffic controllers would run through 2033 instead of 2028. You would not pay anything directly under this bill. What you would notice is in flight safety and staffing, not in your own bills.
Congressional Summary
This bill addresses aviation safety, such as through increasing requirements for aircraft tracking, communication, and coordination with the military. The bill also addresses Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) workforce issues.For example, the bill revises and increases requirements for using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipment, which transmits information (e.g., location and weather information) between aircraft and air traffic control.Under the bill, aircraft must generally operate with ADS-B In (receiving) equipment. The FAA must issue performance requirements for the equipment to provide safety-enhancing capabilities (e.g., facilitating aircraft collision avoidance) for flight crews.Further, current FAA regulations allow aircraft performing a sensitive government mission to be excepted from requirements for using ADS-B Out (broadcasting) equipment. This bill limits which flights may be considered sensitive government missions (e.g., not training flights).The FAA must also (1) establish an office to coordinate airspace usage of military aircraft, (2) review the safety of certain flight operations and routes around airports, and (3) enter into memoranda of understanding with military agencies for safety information sharing.The FAA must conduct a Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology analysis for any transport airplane accidents in the United States that result in a fatality.The bill also addresses FAA workforce issues, such as byexcluding the FAA workforce from a federal hiring freeze, deferred resignation program, voluntary furlough, or reduction in force;supporting the recruitment and training of air traffic controllers; andrequiring strict adherence to federal conflict of interest requirements.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-06-05
- Date Added
- 2026-03-30
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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