Sponsors (34)
The bill seeks to improve mental-health support, speed medical certification, and modernize FAA medical policy for aviation personnel—potentially enhancing safety and workforce resilience—but does so with new costs, added administrative burdens, privacy risks, and possible safety/perception trade-offs from changing clearance standards.
Pilots and air traffic controllers will have clearer regulatory support, destigmatizing materials, and better access to supportive services and guidance, making them more likely to seek mental-health care without automatic punitive action.
Pilots and other aviation personnel will get faster medical-certification decisions and reduced backlogs, allowing quicker return to work when cleared and reducing delays for applicants.
Aviation medical examiners will receive improved mental-health training and the FAA will recruit/authorize more AMEs (including psychiatrists and HIMS specialists), increasing evaluation quality and agency capacity.
FAA deadlines, short implementation timelines, and added reporting requirements will strain FAA staff and stakeholder time, risking rushed policies, diverted resources, and implementation bottlenecks.
Broadening allowable medications and altering clearance standards could introduce safety risks or be perceived as loosening standards, potentially affecting operational safety and public confidence (including national-security concerns).
Implementing new medical-clearance rules, additional evaluations, and paperwork may increase compliance costs and administrative burden for pilots, AMEs, and airlines.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Directs FAA to update medical-certification rules and processes, fund examiner capacity and training, and run a public campaign to destigmatize mental-health care for aviation personnel.
Official title: Require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to revise regulations for certain individuals carrying out aviation activities who disclose a mental health diagnosis or condition, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 20, 2025 by John Hoeven · Last progress October 1, 2026
Requires the FAA to update medical certification rules, guidance, and review processes to encourage aviation personnel to seek mental-health care and to reduce stigma; mandates stakeholder consultation and sets deadlines for implementing recommendations from recent aviation mental-health rulemaking. Provides funding from existing FAA accounts (up to $15 million/year for FY2026–2029 and up to $1.5 million/year for FY2026–2029) to expand FAA medical examiner capacity, training, backlog clearance, and a public information campaign to destigmatize mental-health care for pilots and air traffic controllers. Establishes annual reviews of the mental-health special issuance process, requires FAA to implement or justify responses to task force and committee recommendations within set timeframes, and directs publication and distribution of accessible educational materials to aviation personnel and training organizations.