My Sport Does Not Assume My Net Worth

If youve been following the general aviation industrys efforts to secure federal legislation deregulating FAA medical certification, you know its been a long, frustrating process (though not nearly as long or frustrating as some of the industrys other legislative efforts). The legislation is S. 571, the Pilots Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2), introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). A companion bill, H.R. 1086, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.)

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Thursday, January 07, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Dick Karl is a cancer surgeon turned Part 135 pilot who flies a Cessna Citation CJ1. Courtesy Dick Karl

Key Takeaways:

S. 571, the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2), aims to deregulate FAA medical certification for general aviation pilots but is facing a slow and challenging legislative process in Congress.
The bill drew public criticism, including a *New York Times* op-ed that mocked it and its sponsor, and inaccurately suggested that most private pilots are "rather wealthy."
The author refutes the stereotype of wealthy pilots, explaining that aircraft ownership is often a conscious financial choice that comes at the expense of other luxuries.

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If you’ve been following the general aviation industry’s efforts to secure federal legislation deregulating FAA medical certification, you know it’s been a long, frustrating process (though not nearly as long or frustrating as some of the industry’s other legislative efforts). The legislation is S. 571, the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2), introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). A companion bill, H.R. 1086, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.).

In November, S. 571 was the subject of a mark-up session, where a committee considers a bill and amendments to it. That part of the legislative process is mostly complete, but the committee failed to approve the measure or forward it to the Senate floor for a vote. The full Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has scheduled December 9 as the date it will try to complete its work on PBOR2. That is well after this issue will be on its way to you but, perhaps by the time you read this, real progress toward enactment may have been made during the year-end Congressional rush to pass bills with substantial support.