Senate Democrats Demand FAA Answers on Overdue Evacuation Tests, Flight Attendant Cuts

Two Senate Democrats have demanded answers from FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford about airplane evacuation testing overdue by nearly two years and the agency's approvals for airlines to reduce flight attendants on some long-haul widebody flights.

They expressed concern that such cuts could leave more emergency exit doors than flight attendants during an evacuation. "Without a certified Flight Attendant positioned at every dual-aisle floor-level exit, passengers could be left vulnerable at precisely the moment they must rely on skilled, decisive guidance and rapid action from highly trained and certified Flight Attendants," Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin wrote in a letter obtained by CBS News. "Furthermore, reduced staffing poses additional risk in the unfortunate event that a Flight Attendant is left incapacitated during a serious incident."

The senators said American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have FAA approval to cut flight attendants on some aircraft under rules requiring one per 50 passengers. "... [I]t violates the purpose of evacuation certification and creates a dangerous gap in safety," Duckworth and Baldwin wrote. "Reducing the minimum crew requirement means that a single Flight Attendant is solely responsible for operating two doors, up to 19 feet apart. This means one Flight Attendant could be responsible for evacuating hundreds of passengers across two aisles and middle column seats."

Last year, the FAA certified American's Boeing 787-9P seating configuration with a minimum of seven flight attendants despite eight exit doors. The airline said it assigns eight to 10 on those flights based on distance but keeps the minimum to handle issues like crew illness en route. "FAA safety regulations base flight attendant requirements on airplane seating capacity. On June 25, the FAA observed American Airlines successfully complete evacuation safety demonstrations with seven flight attendants on its Boeing 787-9P airplanes. American's 787-9P aircraft have a lower seating capacity than its other 787 models, which require eight flight attendants," the FAA said in a statement.

Airlines must pass FAA evacuation demonstrations for each seating configuration to set minimum staffing, which can vary by setup and flight length. They can add crew beyond the minimum.

"Today, nothing stops airlines from assigning one Flight Attendant to cover two door exits on widebody aircraft. Previous accidents have shown that leaving exits unattended during an evacuation leads to chaos, results in unusable exits being opened, causes injury, and increases smoke and fumes into the cabin," said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 55,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines including United. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which covers American Airlines crew, met lawmakers including Duckworth in December about staffing as an industry-wide issue exposing widebody exits without trained attendants.

Duckworth, the ranking Democrat on the Senate aviation subcommittee, has pressed the FAA for evacuation tests reflecting real conditions like children, elderly and disabled passengers, luggage and service animals. The senators also want an update on testing Congress required within one year of the FAA reauthorization bill, a deadline that passed in May 2025. "Almost two years after enactment, the report is still not complete," they wrote.

The FAA demands evacuation within 90 seconds, but real cases take longer. Japan Airlines Flight 516 passengers and crew needed 11 to 18 minutes to evacuate after colliding with a coast guard plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in 2024, per the airline and Japan Transport Safety Board. "This standard is not arbitrary—it is based on the harsh reality that seconds can be the difference between life and death," Duckworth and Baldwin wrote.

"After seeing more and more aircraft evacuations that don't meet the 90-second standard that the FAA is supposed to hold itself to, we passed legislation requiring them to ensure that evacuation standards reflect the world of flying today. Two years later, they still haven't done so," Duckworth said in a statement to CBS News. "All the while, the FAA continues to allow airlines to reduce the size of their crew, further weakening their ability to meet federal evacuation standards. Absolutely nothing about this makes the flying public safer."

A 2020 Department of Transportation Inspector General report found the FAA's process for updating evacuation standards lacks data collection and analysis on current risks. In 2024, Duckworth, who lost both legs in the Iraq War, told CBS News she lacked confidence in evacuating a plane in under 90 seconds without her prosthetics. "Not at all confident, not at all confident. I often fly where I'm not wearing both my artificial legs," she said. "I don't think it's realistic anymore. … Conduct a real test and let's see what the realistic standard is."

"We need answers. Are the current [plane] evacuation standards, are they adequate?" former National Transportation Safety Board chair Robert Sumwalt, a CBS News transportation safety analyst, said last August. "It's definitely time for the FAA to go back and reassess what standards they're using for evacuations. It's been almost 35 years since those standards were published."

The senators now call on the FAA to study how reduced flight attendant staffing affects evacuation efficiency. "The presence of Flight Attendants, stationed in the right locations, help passengers survive when their lives depend on it. Appropriate crew staffing is not a luxury; it is a life-saving necessity," they wrote.