[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1889 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1889

    To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the training 
 requirements for and require the certification of cabin crew members, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2003

 Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Boswell, 
 Mr. Capuano, Mr. Case, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. 
Crowley, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Ford, Mr. 
Frost, Mr. Holden, Mrs. Kelly, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Kleczka, Mr. Levin, 
  Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Michaud, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
Larsen of Washington, Ms. Solis, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Costello, 
Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Honda, Ms. Hooley of 
  Oregon, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. Thompson of California) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the training 
 requirements for and require the certification of cabin crew members, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Flight Attendant Certification 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Federal Aviation Administration requires cabin crew 
        on board all transport category aircraft (20 seats or more) to 
        handle aircraft evacuations and other emergency procedures.
            (2) Cabin crew are in-flight first responders trained to 
        handle medical emergencies, fires, and security threats.
            (3) As safety-sensitive employees, cabin crew are tested 
        for drug and alcohol use.
            (4) Federal regulations limit cabin crew duty time and 
        stipulate mandatory rest periods.
            (5) A wide disparity in quality and content of training 
        exists from air carrier to air carrier.
            (6) The Federal Aviation Administration certifies other 
        groups with safety responsibilities under its jurisdiction, 
        including pilots, mechanics, repairmen, dispatchers, and 
        parachute packers.
            (7) Certification of cabin crew will make the Federal 
        Aviation Administration responsible for ensuring that cabin 
        crew are qualified to perform their safety and security duties.

SEC. 3. TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR CABIN CREW.

    Section 44935 of chapter 449 of part A of subtitle VII of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Training Standards for Cabin Crew.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall prescribe 
        standards for cabin crew training and certification. The 
        standards shall include the following:
                    ``(A) Mandatory certification.--All new and 
                existing cabin crew members shall be certified by the 
                Administrator after successful completion of an air 
                carrier's training program, which consists of--
                            ``(i) initial, indoctrination, and 
                        emergency training;
                            ``(ii) air carrier specific training 
                        related to aircraft types and operator's 
                        certificate; and
                            ``(iii) submission by the air carrier to 
                        the Administrator confirming such completion.
                    ``(B) Standardized training.--The Administrator 
                shall be prohibited from granting an air carrier a 
                waiver of cabin crew training requirements or an 
                exemption from any part of such requirements.
                    ``(C) Qualifications.--
                            ``(i) In general.--To be qualified to 
                        receive a cabin crew certificate, a cabin crew 
                        member shall--
                                    ``(I) successfully complete the 
                                training requirements established by 
                                the Administrator, including all 
                                initial, indoctrination, emergency, 
                                transition, differences, recurrent, and 
                                requalification training as described 
                                in the applicable regulations;
                                    ``(II) successfully complete the 
                                cabin security and self-defense 
                                training requirements established by 
                                the Transportation Security 
                                Administrator; and
                                    ``(III) successfully perform the 
                                assigned duties of a cabin crew member 
                                and complete the approved proficiency 
                                check, under the supervision of a 
                                certified instructor or supervisor, for 
                                not less than 5 hours of initial 
                                operating experience.
                            ``(ii) Initial operating experience.--
                        Initial operating experience shall be 
                        conducted:
                                    ``(I) on an operating flight;
                                    ``(II) without decreasing the 
                                number of required cabin crew 
                                complement on an aircraft; and
                                    ``(III) by assigning not more than 
                                2 qualifying cabin crew on a narrow-
                                body aircraft or not more than 4 
                                qualifying cabin crew on a wide-body 
                                aircraft.
                        No deviations, exemptions, and waivers from 
                        these requirements shall be permitted.
                    ``(D) Contents.--The cabin crew certificate shall--
                            ``(i) be numbered and recorded by the 
                        Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
                        Administration;
                            ``(ii) contain the name, address, and 
                        description of the individual to whom the 
                        certificate is issued;
                            ``(iii) contain the name of the current air 
                        carrier employer of the certificate holder;
                            ``(iv) contain terms the Administrator 
                        determines are necessary to ensure safety in 
                        air commerce, including terms that the 
                        certificate shall remain valid unless the 
                        Administrator suspends or revokes the 
                        certificate; and
                            ``(v) designate the type and model of 
                        aircraft on which the certificate holder cabin 
                        crew member has successfully completed all 
                        Federal Aviation Administration and 
                        Transportation Security Administration required 
                        training in order to be assigned duties on 
                        board such type and model of aircraft.
                    ``(E) Carrier training approval.--Air carrier 
                training programs shall require approval by the 
                Administrator. To assure consistent training and 
                competency, only a FAA headquarters staff position 
                shall be authorized to approved training programs. 
                Principal operations inspectors or other personnel with 
                responsibilities for a particular air carrier or 
                carriers shall not be permitted to issue such approval 
                or permitted to grant exemptions, deviations, or 
                waivers from any approved training requirements used to 
                evaluate air carrier training programs or to determine 
                whether such programs shall be approved.
            ``(2) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `cabin crew' means individuals working in an aircraft 
        cabin on board a transport category aircraft with 20 or more 
        seats.''.
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