Fatigued Pilot Protection Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Fatigued Pilot Protection Act directs the FAA Administrator to update regulations within 180 days so part 117 flight and duty limitations and rest requirements apply to any flightcrew member or certificate holder conducting any operation under part 121. Part 121 covers scheduled air carriers and certain other commercial operations. The bill would close any remaining distinction that keeps part 117 rest rules from applying across all part 121 operations, including cargo or other operations that have historically been treated differently from passenger-service rest rules.
Who Benefits and How
Part 121 flightcrew members, cargo pilots, passenger airline pilots, aviation safety advocates, airline passengers, and communities under flight paths benefit from broader fatigue protections and more uniform rest standards. FAA safety staff benefit from a clear statutory mandate to apply part 117 across all part 121 operations.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Part 121 certificate holders, cargo airlines, passenger airlines, airline scheduling departments, and FAA rulemaking staff must update schedules, crew staffing, compliance systems, and regulations within 180 days. Carriers that relied on more flexible duty rules may face higher staffing costs, schedule changes, or reduced utilization of flightcrew members. FAA inspectors must oversee compliance with the expanded rest framework.
Key Provisions
- Requires FAA regulatory updates within 180 days after enactment.
- Applies 14 C.F.R. part 117 flight and duty limitations to every part 121 flightcrew member.
- Applies part 117 rest requirements to every part 121 certificate holder operation.
- Creates a uniform fatigue-protection rule across covered part 121 operations.
- Requires carriers to adjust crew scheduling and compliance systems to match the expanded rest rules.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires the FAA within 180 days to update regulations so the flight and duty limitations and rest requirements in 14 C.F.R. part 117 apply to every flightcrew member and certificate holder conducting any operation under 14 C.F.R. part 121.
Key Policy Areas
Transportation, Labor, Public Safety
Primary Purpose
Requires the FAA within 180 days to update regulations so the flight and duty limitations and rest requirements in 14 C.F.R. part 117 apply to every flightcrew member and certificate holder conducting any operation under 14 C.F.R. part 121.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Part 121 flightcrew members
- Cargo pilots
- Passenger airline pilots
- Aviation safety advocates
- Airline passengers
- FAA safety staff
Identified Costs
- Part 121 certificate holders
- Cargo airlines
- Passenger airlines
- Airline scheduling departments
- FAA rulemaking staff
- FAA inspectors
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
Ms. Scholten (for herself and Mr. Bresnahan) introduced the following …
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Cargo airlines, Cargo pilots, Part 121 certificate holders
Positive-direction: Cargo pilots, Part 121 flightcrew members, Passenger airline pilots
Negative-direction: Cargo airlines, Part 121 certificate holders, Passenger airlines
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology