Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
Like someone said above, it passed the House by a large margin. I watched some of the Senate hearings on it on CSPAN a few days ago. Everyone I saw was in favor of it and most were saying they wanted these reforms put in place immediately. Some senators were pushing the FAA administrator to move quicker and enact some of this stuff by himself before the bill is even signed into law.
So, my guess is it could be as soon as 2010, or as late as 2013. As the bill is written by the House I think you get 3 years grace period to get the ATP. But, I also think the FAA could move quicker on it's own if it so desired.
In any case, I would be shocked if you didn't need a 1500 hour ATP to get hired to fly part-121 by 2013.
Actually, no, the FAA cannot make a rule change as quickly. Prior to most (if not all) rule changes, an agency must issue a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). Typically, it allows 60 days for public comments and 30 days for the agency to reply. Additionally, the agency would need to confer with any other agencies the new rule could affect.
On the other hand, the Legislative can change a law as fast as they can call a vote as was the case in the Declaration of War against Japan 12/8/1941.
One thing the current Administrator has done is to shame carriers into "voluntary" compliance with his wishes (publicly posting carriers who have chosen NOT to have FOQA ro example).