The U.S. Senate on Thursday, September 24, 2026, passed two bills intended to modernize mental health protocols for pilots and air traffic controllers. The legislation, which passed by unanimous consent, aims to reduce the stigma associated with seeking treatment and to increase transparency regarding medications that are permitted for use by aviation professionals.
The two measures, titled the John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act and the Aviation Medication Transparency Act of 2026, were sponsored by Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). The John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act is named for a University of North Dakota aviation student who died by suicide in 2021. According to Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), who sponsored the House version of the bill, Hauser and other students expressed concerns that seeking mental health care could jeopardize their career prospects.
The John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue guidance encouraging employees to seek mental health treatment and provides enhanced training for aviation medical examiners. It also directs the FAA to implement recommendations from a 2024 rulemaking committee to eliminate barriers to care. The second bill, the Aviation Medication Transparency Act, directs the FAA to maintain a publicly accessible, annually updated list of medications that are safe for pilots and air traffic controllers to take while working.
The financial scale of the measures includes an annual set-aside of $13,740,000 for fiscal years 2026 through 2028 to recruit and train additional aviation medical examiners and psychiatrists. An additional $1,500,000 is allocated annually over the same period for a public information campaign to destigmatize mental health care. For individual pilots and air traffic controllers, the most immediate change would be the publication of a "user-friendly" medication list within one year of enactment, which would specify which prescriptions require a period of limited duties and which are designated as "Do Not Issue."
The bills now move to the House of Representatives for further consideration. A version of the Mental Health in Aviation Act previously passed the House on September 8, 2025, by a voice vote. If signed into law, the FAA would be required to update its mental health regulations within two years of enactment and provide annual reports to Congress if it chooses not to implement specific recommendations from its mental health task group. Additionally, the FAA would be required to conduct annual reviews of the special issuance process for medical certificates to clear existing backlogs at the Office of Aerospace Medicine.