FlyersRights Drags the FAA Towards Seat Standards
FlyersRights dragged the FAA towards updating emergency evacuation and seat standards after seven years of refusals and delays.
This just issued report by the FAA Emergency Evacuation Advisory Rulemaking Committee (on which FlyersRights' Paul Hudson was a member representing passengers) makes 27 recommendations needed to update FAA standards.
It was published after a 22 month delay, and only after FlyersRights recently petitioned a federal court to order the FAA follow the 2018 law requiring an update emergency evacuation standards by October 2019. The FAA and its leadership could face judicial penalties for continued failure and refusal to act.
This advisory committee representing all relevant stakeholders examined hundreds of emergency evacuation incidents to form its recommendations.
FlyersRights originally petitioned the FAA to set minimum seat standards and update emergency evacuation testing in 2015. After three trips to federal court by FlyersRights, a Congressional mandate and two outright refusals by the FAA to act in 2016 and 2018, and years of FAA delay, the FAA under new leadership may finally act to protect the safety and health of passengers and flight crews.
