I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1889

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the training requirements 

for and require the certification of cabin crew members, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2003

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BOSWELL, 

Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CASE, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. FORD, Mr. FROST, Mr. HOLDEN, Mrs. KELLY, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. 

MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. 

SOLIS, Mr. WEINER, Mr. GORDON, Mr. COSTELLO, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, 

Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HONDA, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. 

PALLONE, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the 

training requirements for and require the certification 

of cabin crew members, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flight Attendant Cer5 tification Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Federal Aviation Administration re4 quires cabin crew on board all transport category 

5 aircraft (20 seats or more) to handle aircraft evacu6 ations and other emergency procedures. 

7 (2) Cabin crew are in-flight first responders 

8 trained to handle medical emergencies, fires, and se9 curity threats. 

10 (3) As safety-sensitive employees, cabin crew 

11 are tested for drug and alcohol use. 

12 (4) Federal regulations limit cabin crew duty 

13 time and stipulate mandatory rest periods. 

14 (5) A wide disparity in quality and content of 

15 training exists from air carrier to air carrier. 

16 (6) The Federal Aviation Administration cer17 tifies other groups with safety responsibilities under 

18 its jurisdiction, including pilots, mechanics, repair19 men, dispatchers, and parachute packers. 

20 (7) Certification of cabin crew will make the 

21 Federal Aviation Administration responsible for en22 suring that cabin crew are qualified to perform their 

23 safety and security duties. 
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1 SEC. 3. TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR CABIN CREW. 

2 Section 44935 of chapter 449 of part A of subtitle 

3 VII of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(g) TRAINING STANDARDS FOR CABIN CREW.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

7 prescribe standards for cabin crew training and cer8 tification. The standards shall include the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY CERTIFICATION.—All 

10 new and existing cabin crew members shall be 

11 certified by the Administrator after successful 

12 completion of an air carrier’s training program, 

13 which consists of—

14 ‘‘(i) initial, indoctrination, and emer15 gency training; 

16 ‘‘(ii) air carrier specific training re17 lated to aircraft types and operator’s cer18 tificate; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) submission by the air carrier to 

20 the Administrator confirming such comple21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(B) STANDARDIZED TRAINING.—The Ad23 ministrator shall be prohibited from granting 

24 an air carrier a waiver of cabin crew training 

25 requirements or an exemption from any part of 

26 such requirements. 
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1 ‘‘(C) QUALIFICATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To be qualified to 

3 receive a cabin crew certificate, a cabin 

4 crew member shall—

5 ‘‘(I) successfully complete the 

6 training requirements established by 

7 the Administrator, including all ini8 tial, indoctrination, emergency, transi9 tion, differences, recurrent, and re10 qualification training as described in 

11 the applicable regulations; 

12 ‘‘(II) successfully complete the 

13 cabin security and self-defense train14 ing requirements established by the 

15 Transportation Security Adminis16 trator; and 

17 ‘‘(III) successfully perform the 

18 assigned duties of a cabin crew mem19 ber and complete the approved pro20 ficiency check, under the supervision 

21 of a certified instructor or supervisor, 

22 for not less than 5 hours of initial op23 erating experience. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) INITIAL OPERATING EXPERI2 ENCE.—Initial operating experience shall 

3 be conducted: 

4 ‘‘(I) on an operating flight; 

5 ‘‘(II) without decreasing the 

6 number of required cabin crew com7 plement on an aircraft; and 

8 ‘‘(III) by assigning not more 

9 than 2 qualifying cabin crew on a nar10 row-body aircraft or not more than 4 

11 qualifying cabin crew on a wide-body 

12 aircraft. 

13 No deviations, exemptions, and waivers 

14 from these requirements shall be per15 mitted. 

16 ‘‘(D) CONTENTS.—The cabin crew certifi17 cate shall—

18 ‘‘(i) be numbered and recorded by the 

19 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad20 ministration; 

21 ‘‘(ii) contain the name, address, and 

22 description of the individual to whom the 

23 certificate is issued; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) contain the name of the current 

2 air carrier employer of the certificate hold3 er; 

4 ‘‘(iv) contain terms the Administrator 

5 determines are necessary to ensure safety 

6 in air commerce, including terms that the 

7 certificate shall remain valid unless the Ad8 ministrator suspends or revokes the certifi9 cate; and 

10 ‘‘(v) designate the type and model of 

11 aircraft on which the certificate holder 

12 cabin crew member has successfully com13 pleted all Federal Aviation Administration 

14 and Transportation Security Administra15 tion required training in order to be as16 signed duties on board such type and 

17 model of aircraft. 

18 ‘‘(E) CARRIER TRAINING APPROVAL.—Air 

19 carrier training programs shall require approval 

20 by the Administrator. To assure consistent 

21 training and competency, only a FAA head22 quarters staff position shall be authorized to 

23 approved training programs. Principal oper24 ations inspectors or other personnel with re25 sponsibilities for a particular air carrier or car-
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1 riers shall not be permitted to issue such ap2 proval or permitted to grant exemptions, devi3 ations, or waivers from any approved training 

4 requirements used to evaluate air carrier train5 ing programs or to determine whether such pro6 grams shall be approved. 

7 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub8 section, the term ‘cabin crew’ means individuals 

9 working in an aircraft cabin on board a transport 

10 category aircraft with 20 or more seats.’’.

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