It seems that a new bill has just come into play that will raise the safety bar for all United States airlines. This new bill is related to the training that pilots have to go through in order to fly a plane. Just recently in Washington, the House voted on placing tougher regulations on pilot training. These new qualifications and work schedules come in response to a fated crash that happened in New York in February.

This new bill, which was approved 409 to 11, would actually require all pilots that fly for a passenger carrying airline to have an Air Transport Pilot certificate. This bill raises the number of flying hours for a entry level pilot from 250 to 1,500. This allows the FAA to credit course work at specific flight training schools towards the requirements for receiving an Air Transport Pilot certificate. Schools have already started to express their concern that pilots will skip the schooling to concentrate on just accumulating flying time.

Of course, sponsors for the bill hope that this new bill will actually increase the salaries of pilots since it takes more to get a pilot license now. Although this was not their main goal, it is something that is very likely to happen in light of the new requirements.

This new bill also requires the FAA, or the Federal Aviation Administration, to update rules governing how many hours an airline may require a pilot to fly before that pilot is allowed to rest. Airlines will also have to put in place a fatigue risk management plan.