FAA must close pilot fatigue loophole for all commercial airlines
H.R. 7191 — Fatigued Pilot Protection Act · Filed by Hillary Scholten (D-MI) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jan 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the FAA to update regulations within 180 days to ensure that existing fatigue-management rules (flight and duty limits, rest requirements) in Part 117 of federal aviation regulations apply uniformly to all pilots and airlines operating under Part 121 (commercial airline operations). Currently, some operators or crew categories may not be fully covered; the bill closes that gap.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a directive to the FAA to extend existing fatigue-management regulations to all commercial pilots and operators, closing a coverage gap in safety rules.
What the text implies
- If Part 117 rules are not currently applied uniformly, some airlines or crew categories have been operating under less stringent fatigue limits; the update may increase operational costs for those operators through scheduling changes and potential crew additions.
- The 180-day deadline is tight for regulatory drafting; delays or incomplete implementation could leave gaps if the FAA cannot finalize rules in time.
- The bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms or penalties, leaving implementation details to FAA discretion.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Pilots and the flying public both benefit: pilots gain explicit fatigue protections and mandatory rest, reducing pilot error and accidents; passengers gain safer flights. No identified cost to ordinary citizens.
Named in the bill
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Part 117 (Code of Federal Regulations), Part 121 (Code of Federal Regulations), Commercial airlines, Airline pilots
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jan 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
6 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $3,230,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 82% of bills with at least one filing.
Hillary Scholten, the sponsor, reported $769,940 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Fedex Corporation — $2,930,000 on 1 filing
- Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. — $160,000 on 1 filing
- Independent Pilots Association — $70,000 on 1 filing
- Hualapai Tribe — $60,000 on 1 filing
- Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa — $10,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (555 characters) on Aug 11, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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