The Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025 directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to revise outdated regulations and policies surrounding mental health disclosures for individuals engaged in aviation activities. By implementing recommendations from the Aviation Workforce Mental Health Task Group established under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, as well as the Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee, the bill seeks to destigmatize mental health care and encourage individuals to seek help without fear of undue penalty or career repercussions. 

The Aviation Workforce Development Act proposes a groundbreaking measure: designating training at FAA-certified commercial pilot and aircraft maintenance technician schools as a qualified expense under 529 college savings plans. By unlocking these tax-advantaged funds, the bill dismantles financial barriers that often stand in the way of aviation career paths.

Beginning January 2025, the FAA & NFTA will reach out to industry stakeholders and flight training providers throughout the country for modernization input and taskforce coordination, with formal meetings scheduled nationwide, in person and virtually, beginning in March 2025.

Increased simulator training is not just a cleaner, greener approach, it also eases congestion at busy airstrips and responds to pushes in some communities to eliminate or reduce flight training academies from local airports.

National Flight Training Alliance (NFTA), an organization working to unify, promote and protect America’s flight training industry, is honored to have served since December 2023 on the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Committee on Pilot Mental Health Rulemaking Committee (ARC), formed to break down barriers that prevent pilots from reporting mental health issues to the agency, and fully supports the ARC report recommendations provided to the FAA and announced by the agency on April 1, 2024.

Increased simulator training is not just a cleaner, greener approach, it also eases congestion at busy airstrips and responds to pushes in some communities to eliminate or reduce flight training academies from local airports.

Amid the myriad topics included in the FAA Reauthorization Bill, there is a great deal of emphasis placed on safety, training and technology. And rightly so. “Safety first” is the guiding principle of any flight training organization. Training plays right into that, ensuring owner operators have committed sufficient attention and investments to guarantee that no aspect of training is undercut – whether it be through actual flight training curriculum and instruction, or best practice safety measures that guide the everyday activities of a flight school.