1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

This message is in support of H.R. 2591, Mental Health in Aviation Act, which is sponsored by Representatives Sean Casten and Rick Larsen. Aviation has become a lifeblood of American history, not only for our country, but for creating such an economic and cultural impact around the world, and making inaccessible locations more accessible. Every year, thousands of citizens apply for their first pilot medical and the majority are able to receive their medical certificate within the first appointment. However, the FAA has been slow to mitigate the damage being caused by an antiquated system of shutting out potential pilots over mental health issues that are controllable through medication, or have already been resolved in the past from the support of medication. This slow review process has become a tightrope for aviators to walk over, and ends up causing many good and otherwise qualified pilots to become grounded. Over the next one to two decades, the aviation industry is expected to see a shortage of hundreds of thousands of pilots to replace the retiring population of pilots. The current state of the FAA’s restrictive grip is bottlenecking the ability for those who wish to pursue a career as pilots and HR 2591 seeks to fix that bottleneck by providing real-world, modernized solutions to help pilots properly manage their health in regards to certifying their medicals at renewals, without putting their livelihoods on hold for years at a time. Please give your support for the passage and signing of this bill. Thank you.