This is APA Communications Chairman Captain Sam Mayer with the APA Information Hotline for Friday, July 30.

The two-month extension bill – which is the 14th for the legislation since FAA authorization expired in 2007 – also includes several significant measures that will improve safety and pilot training.

Among other provisions, the bill requires 1,500 minimum flight hours for commercial airline pilots, an increase from 250 flight hours. It also requires pilot training for adverse weather conditions, as well as stall and upset recovery, and ensures that airlines provide remedial training for pilots who need it. The bill also directs the FAA to update and implement new pilot flight and duty time rules, and requires air carriers to create fatigue risk management systems to proactively mitigate pilot fatigue.

Kudos go to the APA Government Affairs team, including Chairman Captain Bob Coffman, for tirelessly working on Capitol Hill with the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations to promote the safety improvements for the benefit of our profession and the traveling public.

Thanks also to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas). The three legislators – who met with APA leadership last week in Washington, D.C. – were instrumental in getting the bill passed.

The bill should provide some measure of comfort for the families of Continental Flight 3407 victims, who also led the push for the increased safety measures.

That’s all we have for today. Thanks for checking this message.