After a crash last February near Buffalo that was found to be avoidable, questions have been raised about the qualifications of pilots. Now, the Congress of the United States are moving towards tougher legislation regarding a pilots qualifications, training and fatigue. The proposed bill is called “Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009”.

The bill would add new certification requirements for entry-level commercial pilots, require additional emergency training and make access to pilots records more transparent. There would also be stricter rules to minimize pilot fatigue.

The Air Transport association represents large carriers. They are flexible about having new guidelines, but not entirely supportive of this particular bill. They issued a statement asserting that it would rather focus energy on current efforts to improve safety. These efforts  began earlier this year by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. They believe that they should be allowed to work before Congress passes legislation.
“We believe in that process, and we believe it should be allowed to proceed to a successful conclusion,” said ATA President James May. Despite some disagreement they also went on to say that they will not take major actions to prevent any bills that congress may choose to pass.