All New U.S. Planes Will Be Required to Have This Safety Feature — What to Know
The FAA is requiring a second cockpit door on all new planes.
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The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is rolling out a new safety measure for airplanes. The FAA will require all new commercial aircraft in the United States to include a secondary physical barrier in front of the cockpit “to ensure the safety of aircraft, flight crew, and air passengers.”
The final rule, which the FAA first proposed last year and approved on Wednesday, will make it more difficult for anyone to access the cockpit if the door to the flight deck is opened during a flight. Pilots open the door if they need to leave the cockpit to use the bathroom, for example.
Maravic/Getty Images
“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, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in a statement obtained by Travel + Leisure.
“No pilot should have to worry about an intrusion on the flight deck,” David Boulter, the acting FAA Associate Administrator for Safety, said in a statement. (According to the International Air Transport Association, there's been a spike in reported unruly passenger incidents in 2022 vs. 2021.)
The new rule officially goes into effect in 60 days. But carriers have two years from its effective date, which is expected to be in August, to comply, Reuters reported. Existing planes are not required to be retrofitted.
Jason Ambrosi, the president of the Air Line Pilots Association, called the new rule a “live-saving measure" in a statement.
The security reinforcement comes more than 20 years after the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created following 9/11. The same law that created the agency — and its security screening procedures — also mandated airlines to reinforce cockpit doors, according to the TSA.
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