FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007

Floor Speech

FAA REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - September 20, 2007)

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Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding to me and appreciate his hard work in the committee.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer a commonsense amendment that will better ensure the safety of our Nation's citizens, both in the air and on the ground.

In my district last November, in a situation that is unfortunately still far too common, a drunk driving accident resulted in the deaths of a mother, a father and three children. Left behind in Las Vegas, New Mexico, is one sole-surviving child. The family of six was on their way home from a soccer match when their minivan was struck by a drunk driver speeding down the wrong side of the interstate.

As the investigation unfolded, we learned that only a few hours earlier, the drunk driver was already visibly intoxicated on an airline flight to New Mexico. While other passengers noticed that the man appeared to be intoxicated, he was served more alcohol on board the flight. Just 2 hours after deplaning with a blood alcohol content four times the legal limit, the man took to the highway, killing this family and himself.

In the aftermath of this horrible tragedy, I learned that Federal regulations prohibit an intoxicated person both from boarding a plane, as well as drinking during a flight. However, the airlines are not required to train their flight attendants on how to identify intoxicated passengers. In order to help prevent a problem from occurring, those in charge must first be able to identify the warning signs. Adequate training to identify and deal with intoxicated passengers is critical to ensuring attendants make informed decisions when serving alcohol.

My amendment works to ensure airline personnel receive this training. It requires airline carriers to provide gate and flight attendants with alcohol-server training to help them recognize intoxicated persons. As New Mexico's Attorney General, I helped implement this training in the service industry, because research shows this knowledge is critical to combating the problem. Training would occur annually and would also provide situational training on how to handle inebriated individuals who are belligerent.

The intention of my amendment is to prevent drunk driving, but it does much more. While inebriated passengers pose a danger once they deplane and drive, they also pose a danger during flight. It is no secret that when too much alcohol is involved, tempers are more likely to flare, individuals are more likely to behave inappropriately, and decision-making skills are drastically impaired. For all of these reactions to alcohol, flight attendants must have training on how to handle those people. It is a commonsense approach for the safety of all people in flight.

Unfortunately, my amendment cannot prohibit all tragic drunk driving accidents from occurring, but it will implement a system to make it more difficult for passengers over the legal limit from boarding planes, deplaning and driving home. Training to identify intoxicated passengers is critical to ensuring that the attendants make informed decisions when allowing people to board a flight and when deciding whether to serve them alcohol.

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