Sinema slammed over support of 'poison pill amendment' that puts 'corporate profits ahead' of people
United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona), is facing staunch criticism from Democratic colleagues and members of the aviation community after proposing an amendment to a bill that could impact the number of training hours pilots need to fly commercial planes.
According to Politico, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) has been one of the Arizona lawmaker's most vocal critics, asserting, "There has never been a worse time to consider weakening pilot certification requirements to produce less experienced pilots."
One of the biggest problems with Sinema's amendment — The Intercept reports:
Sinema's campaign received an influx of cash over the last year from the airline industry. The donations would be crucial to the senator as she strikes out as a newly christened independent during a challenging reelection bid. Without her Democratic Party affiliation, Sinema heads into the 2024 race without the political or financial backing of her former party.
During a Senate hearing for the legislation earlier this week, Duckworth said, "Now is not the time to put corporate profits ahead of the lives of our constituents who may want to board a commercial flight in the future. A vote to reduce a 1,500-hour rule for pilot training will mean blood on your hands when an inevitable accident occurs as a result of an inadequately trained flight crew."
Politico reports the Illinois Democrat, who is also a veteran military pilot, noted "the pilot shortage has been 'real and painful' and, although she understands "the temptation to cut corners or chase the false promise of a quick fix to a systemic challenge," she'd like to know "specifics on how many additional pilots would be available if the minimum hours were reduced and has received."
The Independent senator's amendment, according to The Intercept's report, has also been criticized by pilot and flight attendant unions, such as "the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, representing 50,000 flight attendants."
Sara Nelson, president of the union, told the news outlet, "Any change to the rule must have sign off from the pilots or we don't trust it. It's that simple."
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She emphasized, "We do not support the amendment," emphasizing, "The fact is that U.S. aviation has experienced its safest decade since this rule was put into place. As our flight deck counterparts have noted repeatedly, there may be a revision to the rule with full simulator experience that could even exceed current standards. But that must be under terms that ensure this."
Likewise, according to the report, "the Air Line Pilots Association, a union representing tens of thousands of airline pilots, wrote to the Senate in an effort to head off Sinema's amendment, which they say could cause extreme danger to pilots and passengers."
The union's statement said, "This poison pill amendment undermines the current aviation safety regime that has resulted in the safest period in air travel in history. The proposal codifies a training regime that is unstructured and introduces an unacceptable risk to our air transportation system."
The Intercept's full report is available at this link. Politico's report is here.
