Introducing the Airline First Responder Workplace Fairness Act

Floor Speech

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of a bill that I'm introducing today, the Airline First Responder Workplace Fairness Act.

As the world's most geographically isolated archipelago, my home State of Hawaii is uniquely dependent upon air travel. It is the primary mode of transportation for people travelling to Hawaii from the U.S. mainland and other countries--as well as from island to island.

Flights to and from Hawaii are long. They cover vast expanses of ocean and cross several time zones. Because of these unique circumstances, I am acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that the members of every flight crew are rested and alert while doing their duties.

The legislation that I'm introducing today is designed to strengthen necessary workplace protections for flight attendants to enhance the safety of the travelling public.

This bill will help put in place common-sense policies to prevent flight attendant fatigue. These are the same types of policies that the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 required for pilots. That legislation passed the House by voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent.

I believe passage of that legislation was a strong statement that Congress recognizes fatigue is clearly detrimental to air crews' ability to do their jobs safely--and to ensure the safety of the travelling public.

Unfortunately, the legislation and rulemaking that provided pilots with standards to guard against fatigue failed to include flight attendants.
However, Congress had previously enacted legislation that directed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) to study the topic of flight attendant fatigue. Funding to carry out this study has already been appropriated and the study has been completed. The results of the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute's study support the conclusion that action on this front is needed.

The study has found that ``fatigue is a pervasive condition across the flight attendant community.'' Moreover, in June of 2007, the former international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, Patricia Friend, testified before the House Aviation Subcommittee on flight attendant fatigue. She indicated that since 9/11 the security responsibilities of flight attendants have greatly increased. Flight attendants must always be vigilant of what is going on in the aircraft cabin--and, as I'm sure we all know, fatigue seldom makes one more vigilant.

To underscore this point, I'd like to highlight a quote from a flight attendant's safety report filed with NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System. This person said, ``I am filing this report because I was so tired I don't know if I made any mistakes. I know the trip was legal, but it wasn't humane.'' Another flight attendant reported that she had to pinch herself just to stay awake.
That quote should be a chilling call to arms. No one, in any occupation, should ever be so exhausted that they have to pinch themselves to stay awake, or be unable to remember if they've made a mistake at work. That type of environment is bad for workers and bad for the people who are depending on these workers to safely do their job.

My legislation will move past the study stage and take the next step toward ensuring the safety of both our in-flight workforce and the travelling public, while doing so in a collaborative manner that includes input from the aviation industry.

The bill does this by directing the Federal Aviation Administrator to establish an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) comprised of aviation industry stakeholders, labor representatives, and safety experts.

This ARC would then have 1 year to examine the findings and recommendations of the CAMI study, and develop its own recommendations for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to utilize in developing a final regulation. The FAA would then have 1 year to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on the issue, and would then be required to issue a final rule 18 months after that.

I believe that this legislation sets out a fair, collaborative timeline for dealing with this important issue and ensuring the safety of both our in-flight workforce and the travelling public.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to see this important legislation advanced.

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