The House has passed the Mental Health in Aviation Act, which, if it makes it to the President’s desk intact, will impose sweeping changes on the FAA’s handling of mental health related issues to encourage pilots and air traffic controllers to seek help for mental health conditions or symptoms of mental health conditions and disclose conditions or symptoms….” Specifically, it requires the FAA to launch a PR campaign to gain the trust of pilots and air traffic controllers so they feel comfortable reporting potential mental health conditions and seek treatment for them, expand the list of available drugs that can safely treat mental health conditions in pilots, increase mental health training for existing aviation medical examiners (AME) and to spend about $14 million a year from 2026 to 2028 to hire more AMEs, including psychiatrists, not just to expand the mental health services but also to clear the existing backlog of special issuances that are keeping thousands of pilots from flying.
As part of the bill, the FAA is being told to implement the findings of the Mental Health Rulemaking Committee that basically put forth similar recommendations in 2024. AOPA had a seat at that table and applauded the progress of the bill.“I commend Representatives [Sean] Casten and [Pete] Stauber for their leadership on this issue. For too long, pilots have lived with the fear of seeking treatment for a mental health concern,” said AOPA President Darren Pleasance. “This bill takes meaningful steps to ensure pilots can prioritize their health and keep flying.” The bill will now go to the Senate and go through the give-and-take process of being ratified by both houses in a final form. Then the President has to sign it into law.
Great. But shouldn’t someone encourage legislators to self-report? Just sayin’…
Or anyone in the government, for that matter. And of course they should face the same consequences as pilots and controllers who self-report…
Stan Wolf was right, EASA fixed this after Germanwings. This bill is Congress trying to catch up, still about safety, but without scaring pilots into silence. Pilots know the Catch-22 (thanks Gary B.) too well: talk and lose your medical, stay quiet and risk more. If this passes, it could start to break that cycle.
…it requires the FAA to launch a PR campaign to gain the trust of pilots and air traffic controllers…
To gain trust with anyone, the principle driver has to be safety. If a PR campaign can show and prove the new world these pilots are surrendering to with a government agency is completely safe for their personal freedom and peace of mind, putting Everything on the line – work, family, emotional needs, social considerations – and willingly endure the harsh, fluorescent lighting of detached, personal scrutiny and analysis, then it might have a modicum of success.
Will pilots still need to self-disclose so-called ‘mental disorders’ of any sort – depression, anxiety, occasional sadness, chronic anger, bias, hatred, prejudice, drug use, drinking, etc. on the exam forms?
And who will be first to break through and step into this new world of trusting oneself enough to trust a government agency?
Watching for its success, I’m still going to buy green bananas.
“And who will be first to break through and step into this new world of trusting oneself enough to trust a government agency?”
Exactly. It sounds like this is adding a small carrot but not getting rid of the giant stick.
If they were truly serious about pilot/controller mental health, they would implement a moratorium for those who have been treated for minor mental health issues in the past (and did not report it on a medical) but are no longer under active treatment to now report those conditions on their medical without fear of losing their medical or pilot certificates.
From the reporting, I don’t know how this change the FAA treating pilots who report mental counseling because up until now, those who self report will most likely get pilot license suspended. The current FAA medical evaluation often takes a long time and costs thousands of dollars before the pilot can fly again. I don’t know how this bill fixes the current state FAA medical.
A few years before I retired, I was at my AME getting my class 2 renewed. As I checked the many possible issues, negative, I decided to be honest and check “do I ever feel anxiety or depression” yes. As the Doc reviewed it, he said why did you check this yes??? I said I was just being honest for a change. He said , “We all feel that way sometime. Change that to no, now!” I did and that was that. He didn’t want CAMI in OKC to start a big mess with my physical.
They can spend as much money on a PR campaign as they like – but nothing is going to make pilots feel more comfortable about disclosing until the treatment after disclosure changes. That’s what is driving the pilots to stay silent, not any “warm fuzzy” feeling from a PR campaign.
I’m not holding my breath…