The US Senate unanimously passed a bill to encourage pilots and air traffic controllers to disclose mental-health issues and seek care; it also passed a separate bill requiring the FAA to issue accessible guidance on approved medications.
Pilots may conceal conditions for fear that disclosing therapy or medication—or even seeking help—could cost them their licenses. Under current rules, changing an antidepressant or anxiety medication, or its dosage, can mean being grounded for three months.
An FAA expert panel found that about 20% of pilots and controllers who report a mental-health issue are initially disqualified from work; approval to use an antidepressant can take more than a year. The Allied Pilots Association, which represents 17,000 American Airlines pilots, praised the bills as progress in modernizing the FAA’s approach.
