The Subcommittee on Aviation under the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be hearing testimony tomorrow at 10:00 am. They will be streaming it live. Just click on the Yellow Box with Blue writing that says "View Web Cast" located on the left side of the screen. The web site is Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (hxxp://transportation.house.gov/).

The committee will be hearing testimony about the FAAs "Call to Action on Airline Safety and Pilot Training." H.R. 3371 (the "ATP required" to fly 121 bill) will come up as representatives from the University Aviation Association (UAA) and Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) will be giving testimony. The theme "Quality over Quantity" is what they are pushing.

The UAA and AABI are in favor of H.R. 3371 except for the part requiring an ATP to fly 121. They would like the bill to be amended which would allow pilots that graduate from an accredited AABI flight program be eligible for hire into a 121 operator.

Listed below is what they would like to see put into the legislation:

Insert on page 33, line 11:

(3) ACCREDITED UNIVERSITY GRADUATES.—

(A) FLIGHT CREW MEMBERS FROM ACCREDITED UNIVERSITIES.—Not withstanding paragraph (2), flight crew members from accredited universities shall be permitted to—

(i) complete the flight time requirements of the airline transport pilot certificate required in subparagraph (B) during air carrier employment; and

(ii) achieve the 23 years-old age limit during air carrier employment.

(B) AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT CERTIFICATE PRACTICAL EXAMINATION REQUIREMENT.--After having fulfilled the flight time requirements of the airline transport pilot license, flight crew members from accredited universities shall undergo and pass the airline transport pilot certificate practical examination administered by appropriately designated FAA personnel.

(C) FLIGHT CREW MEMBERS FROM ACCREDITED UNIVERSITIES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term “flight crew members from accredited universities” means flight crew members who have--

(i) completed the commercial pilot certificate and multi-engine pilot ratings, the instrument rating, and the certified flight instructor certificate;

(ii) completed the airline transport pilot certificate knowledge requirements including the airline transport pilot certificate written examination; and

(iii) graduated from a university or college flight education program accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International or graduated from a university or college flight education program that meets the Aviation Accreditation Board International flight education criteria. The Aviation Accreditation Board International and University Aviation Association shall jointly determine the means by which compliance with Aviation Accreditation Board International flight education criteria is demonstrated.


This web site is a PDF version of the Bill H.R. 3371 as it stands now hxxp://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3371ih.t xt.pdf. This website is the Government Printing Office (GPO).

We'll see how it plays out tomorrow.

-Tiger

Well of course they would! :rolleyes:

I wonder if Gulfstream et al is part of this accredited group?

I thought the whole idea is to gain experience beyond the academic amount dictated by the FAA for a commercial pilot license. That's kind of why the ATP has the minimums it does anyway right?

I had a feeling someone was going to propose a loophole in this somewhere and it looks like we now have it. Very frustrating.

http://www.aabi.aero/programs.html
http://www.aabi.aero/programs2.html

Removed.......

Nope dont blame GTA for this one, this is your ERAU and the like looking for a way to market their already steep prices. Lets see, We are the only way to 121 without an ATP, so we'll charge you 200K for our program now, I can see it already.

This accreditation thing is a complete load of crap. The whole point of this bill was to get experience into the flight deck. This does the exact reverse. I actually went to one of these programs, though I did not stay to instruct. I gained a great deal more experience working at an FBO where their wasn't a flight manager holding the instructor's and student's hands.

Hahaha ERAU is already $200k, estimated annual costs of attending are $53,000/year for undergrads.

Estimated Cost of Attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

I can't imagine what kind of person could look at that cost, look at the industry today, and think that this is a good idea. Probably the kind of person that's not very good at math.

Probably the kind of person that shouldn't get an exemption from the ATP requirement for Part 121.

If you guys don't like that amendment, give a subcommittee member a call, especially if one of them is a senator from your state. Here's the list:

Jerry F. Costello, Illinois, Chairman

Russ Carnahan, Missouri Parker Griffith, Alabama
Michael E. McMahon, New York
Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia
Bob Filner, California
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas
Leonard L. Boswell, Iowa
Tim Holden, Pennsylvania
Michael E. Capuano, Massachusetts
Daniel Lipinski, Illinois
Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii
Harry E. Mitchell, Arizona
John J. Hall, New York
Steve Cohen, Tennessee
Laura A. Richardson, California
John A. Boccieri, Ohio
Nick J. Rahall, II, West Virginia
Corrine Brown, Florida
Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland
Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania
Solomon P. Ortiz, Texas
Mark H. Schauer, Michigan
James L. Oberstar, Minnesota (ex officio)

Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin, Ranking Member
Howard Coble, North Carolina
John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee
Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan
Frank A. LoBiondo, New Jersey
Jerry Moran, Kansas
Sam Graves, Missouri
John Boozman, Arkansas
Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
Jim Gerlach, Pennsylvania
Charles W. Dent, Pennsylvania
Connie Mack, Florida
Lynn A. Westmoreland, Georgia
Jean Schmidt, Ohio
Mary Fallin, Oklahoma
Vern Buchanan, Florida
Brett Guthrie, Kentucky

Did anyone see the hearing webcast?