HR 2591: Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025

HR 2591 in plain English: This bill requires the FAA to review and update its mental health regulations and policies for pilots and air traffic controllers, including reclassifying medications that may be safely used to treat mental health conditions and improving the process for obtaining special medical certificates. It also sets aside funding to recruit and train aviation medical examiners and to run a public information campaign aimed at reducing stigma around mental health care in the aviation industry.

Stated purpose

This bill requires the FAA to update its rules and policies on mental health for pilots and air traffic controllers, making it easier for aviation workers to seek and disclose mental health treatment without losing their ability to fly or work.

Key points

• Requires FAA to update mental health regulations for pilots and air traffic controllers based on existing task force and committee recommendations.
• Directs FAA to approve additional medications that can safely be prescribed to pilots and air traffic controllers for mental health conditions.
• Sets aside $13,740,000 per year for fiscal years 2026–2028 to recruit and train aviation medical examiners.
• Sets aside $1,500,000 per year for fiscal years 2026–2028 for a public information campaign to destigmatize mental health care in aviation.
• Requires FAA to annually review and update mental health special issuance policies for pilots and air traffic controllers.

Arguments supporters make

• Current FAA rules may discourage pilots and air traffic controllers from seeking mental health help out of fear of losing their certification, creating a hidden safety risk — updating the rules could bring more workers into treatment and make skies safer.
• Approving more medications and giving medical examiners more authority would reduce long backlogs and make the certification process fairer and faster for aviation workers with treatable mental health conditions.
• A public education campaign can help break down stigma, making it more likely that aviation workers will come forward early when problems are manageable rather than waiting until conditions become more serious.

Arguments opponents make

• Expanding the list of approved medications and delegating more authority to individual medical examiners could reduce the consistency and rigor of mental health screenings, potentially allowing conditions that impair performance to go undetected.
• The bill sets aside over $45 million across three years but leaves significant discretion to the FAA Administrator on what recommendations to implement, which critics may see as funding without guaranteed results or accountability.
• Encouraging self-disclosure is only effective if aviation workers trust the system will not penalize them — skeptics argue that without stronger legal protections against career consequences, cultural stigma and fear of job loss will remain barriers regardless of the law.

Tradeoffs

Making it easier for aviation workers to seek mental health care and keep their certifications may improve workforce wellbeing and encourage honesty, but it must be balanced against ensuring rigorous safety standards so that those with conditions that could impair judgment are not cleared to fly or control air traffic prematurely.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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