US FAA grants one-year delay for secondary cockpit barrier rule

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday agreed to delay by one year a requirement for newly delivered U.S. passenger airplanes to have a secondary barrier to the flight deck to prevent intrusions that was set to take effect in August.

Airlines for America, the trade group representing American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other major carriers, had asked the FAA to delay compliance by two years because the agency has not yet certified a secondary cockpit barrier, and no manuals, procedures or training programs have been authorized.

"This will allow time to facilitate FAA certification and install the barriers," the agency said Tuesday.

After the hijacking of four U.S. airplanes on September 11, 2001, the FAA adopted standards for flight deck security to make them resistant to forcible intrusion and unauthorized entry.

The rule requires aircraft manufacturers to install a second physical barrier on new planes used in commercial passenger service in the United States, though it will not require existing planes to be retrofitted.

The FAA said in 2023 the additional barrier will protect flight decks from intrusion when the cockpit door is open.

The Air Line Pilots Association had urged the FAA last month "to reject this latest stalling tactic" and to install barriers it has described as lightweight, retractable security gates.

The union has pressed for the rule, saying at least 52 hijacking attempts worldwide since 2001 "confirm that aviation remains a target for terrorist activity, highlighting the persistent threat of hijackings."

Unions in 2023 urged that the rule take effect one year after publication, while Boeing, Airbus and Airlines for America had called for three years.

The FAA was supposed to have adopted rules by 2019 under a 2018 federal law, but the agency has said it was required to follow procedural rules before it could impose new regulations.

The FAA in 2007 set rules to address flight deck security when the cockpit door was opened, including requiring the door be locked when the airplane is in operation, unless necessary to open it to permit access by authorized persons.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jamie Freed)

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