2023-06-14 15:32:49 ET
U.S. officials on Wednesday said they will require a second barrier on new commercial planes to help prevent airline passengers from pushing their way into the cockpit when the main door is open.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will apply the rule to commercial planes made after the middle of 2025.
Aviation officials said the rule is necessary to better protect pilots. The flight deck is more exposed when flight crew open the door to to get meals or to use the bathroom.
“No pilot should have to worry about an intrusion on the flight deck,” David Boulter, the FAA’s acting associate administrator for safety, said in a statement.
The second barrier aims “to slow such an attack long enough so that an open flightdeck door can be closed and locked before an attacker could reach the flightdeck,” the agency said in the rule, published in the Federal Register.
The FAA calculated that the each new barrier will cost $35,000 to install.
Congress in 2018 ordered the FAA to require secondary barriers in cockpits. The agency didn't propose the rule until last August, after gathering commentary from aircraft makers and labor groups.
Pilot unions asked the agency to broaden the rule to all airline planes including older ones. They claimed that applying the rule only to new planes would highlight the lack of security.
Meanwhile, trade group Airlines for America and United Airlines ( UAL ) said current security measures are effective. They asked that the secondary barriers be required only on future models of planes. That would have meant federally certified planes such as Boeing's ( NYSE: BA ) 737 Max and Airbus's ( OTCPK:EADSY ) ( OTCPK:EADSF ) A320 models wouldn't need the barriers even if they were built after mid-2025.
The FAA said Congress required the rule to apply to all new planes.
Pilot unions also wanted the rule to take effect after one year. The airline industry, Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus ( OTCPK:EADSY ) ( OTCPK:EADSF ) requested three years for compliance. The FAA said a two-year period was adequate, considering that plane makers had less time to strengthen cockpit doors after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
The agency also said Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) and United ( UAL ) voluntarily installed secondary barriers in some planes.
"Every day, pilots and flight crews transport millions of Americans safely - and today we are taking another important step to make sure they have the physical protections they deserve," Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in a statement.
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FAA requires new planes to have second barrier to protect airline pilots