Letter: “For flight crews, safety is always the top priority, and we now have decades of evidence demonstrating that flight crews can attend to [breastmilk pumping] in a way that does not disrupt safety, service, or other duties.”

Washington (March 15, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who led 18 senators, in a letter to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Whitaker calling attention to the continued need for clear and workable rules permitting members of flight crews to pump breastmilk aboard aircraft during non-critical phases of flight.

Joining Merkley in this letter are Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga,), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).

“We write to bring renewed attention to flight crews’ longstanding need to pump breastmilk aboard aircraft during non-critical phases of flight,” wrote the senators. “Flight crews experiencing the joy of having a baby should never be forced to stop pumping breastmilk, especially when a simple, time-tested, and demonstrably safe policy framework exists to avoid this difficult and frustrating situation.”

The senators noted that stakeholders have worked together to find a policy consensus around this issue in the FAA reauthorization process, and that this language—which directs the FAA Administrator to issue guidance—previously received an affirmative vote in the Senate Commerce Committee. The senators urged the FAA to use its existing authority and act preemptively to prepare such guidance.

While the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act of 2022 (PUMP ACT)—legislation guaranteeing millions of working parents the right to pump during their workday at their workplace—was included in the Fiscal Year 2023 omnibus appropriations law, the PUMP Act was met with pushback from the aviation industry leaving flight crews out of the critical protections. Excluding flight crews from the protection to pump at work impacts the future of the American aviation workforce, especially at a time when we need to keep existing airline employees and find ways to attract more to join the industry.

“For flight crews, safety is always the top priority, and we now have decades of evidence demonstrating that flight crews can attend to this physiological need in a way that does not disrupt safety, service, or other duties. We’re glad to see regional offices of the FAA have already reviewed and permitted at least two airlines to enact policies allowing their flight crew to express breastmilk during non-critical phases of the flight and encourage you to continue down this path,” the letter continues.

Full text of the letter can be found here.

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