Dear Members of Congress!

The Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) has, for far too long, actively abused the exclusive authority given to them for issuing medical certificates to people who want to act as pilots in command (“PIC”), flight attendants and air traffic controllers (collectively, “aviators”) in the United States. Decisions which do not measure up to or are completely void of true medical science and/or practical ability are a common practice while the FAA intentionally avoids transparency towards the members of the aviation community they are otherwise paid to serve. In addition, medical consideration requirements can often include the FAA’s proprietary and academically irrelevant medical testing warranted without any true or tangible necessity, be exorbitantly expensive costing applicants thousands or tens of thousands of dollars and comes with no guarantee of favorable outcome towards applicants albeit having no true medical or practical justification to begin with.

Hence, there is no reason to conclude that the FAA’s aeromedical certification program is largely based on anything other than discrimination and these practices are no longer acceptable by any member of the aviation community and shouldn’t be accepted by any member of the United States public or that of Congress, either. Therefore, the signees of this petition ask Congress to take the following immediate action or any available equivalent against a government agency that has simply grown beyond your control:

1. Prohibit the FAA from making any decisions on medical applications that do not reflect true, peer-reviewed, published medical science.

2. Render legally void any previous decision the FAA has made that does not meet this requirement and enter any affected applicant into automatic reconsideration under new said principles.

3. Limit the legal authority given to the FAA for medical certification and instead prioritize medical certification issued via the aviation medical examiner (“AME”) program by expanding the AME program, it's funding and legal authority as needed.

4. Expand the Statement of Demonstrated Ability (“SODA”) program to any and all non-debilitating, non-progressing medical conditions held by pilots who can objectively act as safe and competent PICs regardless of any decision made by the FAA that is medically irrelevant.

5. Order the FAA to submit all internal applicant notes (“DIWS notes”) to aviators who are either facing a denial of their medical certificate or have ever had their medical certificates denied, demoted, suspended or delayed.

6. Open the door to aviators suing the FAA for any financial injury that was incurred due to the denial or delay of their medical certificate based on medically false reasons as mentioned.

7. Refund, from the FAA’s budget, any and all out-of-pocket fees paid by aviators for proprietary aeromedical testing required by the FAA that the applicant’s personal doctors did not determine as necessary and health insurance subsequently refused to pay for.

In addition to this, we ask Congressional members to keep in mind that the same irrelevant medical policies employed by the FAA are further aggravating an artificial shortage of otherwise well-qualified pilots in the United States, have begun to send certain portions of the airline industry into a recession and will soon extend it's needless harm into the national economy as well.

We conclude by once again asking that you take immediate action and thank you for your consideration and support in this matter.

Sincerely,

The Aviators of America