Must-Pass Shutdown Funding Bill Sneaks In Airline Policy Changes — “Two Pilots Forever” And A DOT Review To Chill Joint Ventures

A must-pass funding package to avoid a January 30 government shutdown is carrying quiet airline policy moves that will matter far more than the headlines about FAA dollars.

The major pilot union is celebrating “two fully rested pilots at all times,” but the language is really a spending restriction that prevents the FAA from studying new technologies that might improve safety, and separate language orders the Department of Transportation to revisit decades-old international aviation policy that has worked to open market access and foster competition.

The current three-bill appropriations package moving through Congress covers Defense, Labor–HHS–Education, and Transportation–HUD. It’s one of the endgame measures meant to fund those departments through Sept. 30, 2026 and avert a January 30, 2026 government shutdown deadline. The House passed bills on Thursday.

The Air Line Pilots Association sent out a press release excited about some of the provisions in the bill, and I hadn’t looked closely enough at these.

• Directing the FAA to ensure a minimum of two qualified, fully rested pilots on commercial airline flight decks at all times.
  
• Including additional resources to improve the FAA’s aeromedical process, reduce the backlog of pilot and controller medical certificates, and provide new flexibility to hire and retain skilled medical professionals.
  
• Providing critical funding for the National Mediation Board, which promotes collective bargaining in the airline and rail industries.
  
• Urging the Department of Transportation to review its outdated Statement of International Air Transportation Policy, internal guidance that in the past has been used to justify detrimental labor policy for international aviation, including air service agreements, joint ventures, and licensing cases.

ALPA is certainly excited for “a minimum of two qualified, fully rested pilots on commercial airline flight decks at all times.” But that’s not really what the bill does, and it wouldn’t be good if it did.

There is a committee report (explanatory statement), not a statutory rider in the bill text. It’s an instruction that,

Funding made available in this act shall not support reductions in flight deck crew in commercial operations as provided under 14 CFR Part 121.

What it means:

• Funding for FY2026 cannot be used to enable reduced-crew part 121 operations. Contra ALPA’s statement it does not do anything at all on pilot rest.

• If there are future safety-enhancing ways to restructure cockpit roles, the FAA can’t study it. They’re pushing “two pilots forever” rather than “follow the data on safety.” And that means we limit ourselves to current safety best-practices, banning improvement.

• Fortunately that’s only for current-year funding, but it makes it easier to default to this in future years, too, precluding research on better automation or better alerting. But it protects pilot jobs.

Addressing medical backlog is probably on net a good thing. The bill funds the Office of Aerospace Medicine at $100 million ($3 million above request) to increase staffing and modernize its information management system to reduce processing time. It directs additional staffing (psychiatrists, legal instrument examiners, program analysts) to expedite and reduce backlogs for pilot and controller medical certification.

What it means:

• Pilots hate unpredictable medical timelines. The union also wants mental health pathways that don’t punish help-seeking.
  
• That said, backlog reduction can turn into pressure on “days to decision” rather than “correct decision.” You don’t want throughput targets to turn into rubber stamping.

More funding for the National Mediation Board is $15.1 million to carry out the Railway Labor Act. That’s $800,000 more than requested. ALPA is presumably hoping this means faster case handling, fewer administrative bottlenecks, and therefore more leverage in collective bargaining (get to a credible strike threat faster).

Possible the biggest risk area for the future is the requirement Department of Transportation review of its “Statement of International Air Transportation Policy.” This is a 30-year old document. The House language requests a briefing within 180 days, the Senate within 120 days.

It’s long-standing policy of the U.S. government to foster open markets in aviation, replacing restrictive bilateral agreements between nations with Open Skies agreements, increasing consumer options for better service and lower costs. The policy has aimed to make U.S. carriers key players in the global marketplace, prioritizing competition over protectionism, and facilitating U.S. carrier growth.

ALPA focuses on foreign carriers accessing U.S. markets, competing with their pilot members for jobs, and also allowing U.S. airlines to partner with other airlines rather than expanding themselves and adding their own pilot jobs. So they want more protectionism from a shift in overall policy stance. And that aligns with the current administration overall.

Even a review can chill investment in partnerships, alliances, and joint ventures, and a more restrictive U.S. posture can invitate retaliation and limits on U.S. airline access to foreign markets.

Also in this legislation, related to aviation, there’s:

• $13.7 billion funding for FAA (backed by the Airport & Airway Trust Fund), with designated break-out amounts for safety, air traffic control, commercial space, NextGen improvements, etc. down to the level of a $1 million flight attendant drug and alcohol program contract: ≥ $1M and $3 million veterans’ pilot training program.

• A ban on using Airport Improvement Program grants for terminal baggage changes to install bulk explosive detection systems, while moving $15 million to the Small Community Air Service Development Program.

• A ban on new FAA aviation user fees by regulation unless expressly authorized in legislation.

• Contract weather observers program protected (can’t be eliminated).

• Flight-tracking privacy: funds can’t be used to limit private-aircraft owner ability to block identifying data from real-time public tracking (effectively, this protects blocking).

• A ban on planning, designing, or implementing privatization of air traffi control, and also on building any new air traffic control academy except the existing Mike Monroney academy.

• Up to $3.5 million reimbursement for general aviation tenants harmed by presidential airspace restrictions.

Ultimately, the must-pass shutdown bill doesn’t just fund aviation, it quietly attempts to lock in today’s cockpit rules and invites a more protectionist DOT posture that could reshape competition and partnerships long after this fiscal year ends.