Aviation legislation stalls in US Congress over pilot training rules

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill to raise the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age to 67 from 65 and make other aviation reforms has stalled due to disagreements on whether to revise pilot training rules.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 351-69 to pass the bill that would reauthorize U.S. FAA aviation safety and infrastructure programs for the next five years.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell said the effort was stymied over pilot training rules. "We're not willing to lower the safety standards to get a bill," Cantwell said. "Until that issued is resolved, we're not moving forward in the committee."

A proposal would allow pilots to complete 150 hours of required training in a flight simulator. Pilots currently can count 100 hours toward their required 1,500 training hours in a flight simulator or flight training device.

More stringent pilot training requirements were imposed after the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 near Buffalo, New York, that killed 50 people, the last major U.S. passenger airline fatal crash. The House voted to retain the pilot training rules in the bill it passed last week.

Senator Ted Cruz, the top Republican on the committee, said the committee had earlier been ready to pass legislation until Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer "threw a hand grenade in the middle of the markup and caused it to be canceled."

Schumer opposes changing the pilot training rules.

The House measure bars airlines from charging fees to allow families to sit together on flights but does not include many consumer protection issues sought by the White House.

Cantwell supports raising the pilot retirement age to 67. The Air Line Pilots Association opposes hiking the retirement age, while the Regional Airline Association supports it. Current international rules would still prevent pilots older than 65 from flying in most countries outside the United States.

Separately, the White House has not moved forward with picking a new nominee for the Federal Aviation Administration more than four months after the prior nominee withdrew. Last week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Reuters the White House was close to naming a new nominee.

The White House has been considering naming former Deputy FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker, sources told Reuters, but Buttigieg declined to identify the expected nominee.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)