In committee
Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025
This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to update its medical rules so pilots and air traffic controllers can seek mental health care and report symptoms without risking their careers. The agency must regularly review and expand the list of approved psychiatric medications, streamline the medical waiver process, and implement recommendations from aviation safety panels. The bill also dedicates funding from 2026 through 2028 to hire specialized medical examiners, clear backlogs of pilot medical reviews, and run a campaign to reduce the stigma around mental healthcare in aviation.
People affected—Not determinable from the text provided; the bill applies broadly to aviation personnel (pilots, air traffic controllers, and aviation medical examiners) without specifying headcounts.
Fiscal magnitude$45.7Mprovisional · pending reviewSections 4 and 6 direct set-asides from existing FAA authorizations totaling $15,240,000 annually across FY2026–2028 ($13.74M/year for aviation medical examiner recruitment/backlog clearance and $1.5M/year for a public information campaign), amounting to $45,720,000 over three years.
Reach38provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Substance use & mental health+35Workplace standards+25
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Pilots, air traffic controllers, and aviation workersGains updated regulations encouraging mental health treatment and disclosure, access to newly approved safe medications, streamlined special-issuance medical clearances, cleared case backlogs, and a public campaign to reduce mental health stigma (Sec. 2(a), Sec. 3, Sec. 4, Sec. 6).
- Aviation medical examiners and psychiatristsReceives dedicated recruitment, training, and support funding ($13.74 million annually for FY 2026–2028), updated mental health guidance, and potential delegation of expanded authority for medical clearances (Sec. 3, Sec. 4).
- Pilot and air traffic controller labor unionsGains statutory rights to be consulted by the mental health task group and FAA regarding workforce mental health regulations and committee recommendations (Sec. 2(b)(2), Sec. 5(b)).
Who it burdens
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)Must update aviation medical regulations within two years, conduct annual reviews of special-issuance policies, implement recommendations from the mental health task group and 2024 Rulemaking Committee or justify omissions to Congress, recruit and train medical examiners, clear case backlogs, and run a public education campaign (Sec. 2, Sec. 3, Sec. 4, Sec. 5, Sec. 6).