Colgan Air on the table yet again - Curt Lewis

FAA Set To Issue Mentoring Rules For Airline Pilots

• The rules, spurred by the 2009 Colgan Air crash, are expected to deal with cockpit discipline and procedures

• Federal Aviation Administration officials soon are expected to release rules that airlines have formal peer-mentoring programs for pilots. 

By ANDY PASZTOR

Federal aviation regulators are expected to issue regulations shortly to ensure that all scheduled passenger carriers have formal peer-mentoring programs to promote professional behavior by pilots, according to people familiar with the matter.

A big part of the goal is making sure pilots comply with standard operating procedures and avoid extraneous conversations at relatively low altitudes, such as during landing approaches or after takeoffs.

Prompted by a high-profile turboprop crash caused by cockpit errors that killed 50 people near Buffalo, N.Y., in 2009, the anticipated rules are arriving years behind schedule. They may not go far enough to fully satisfy safety advocates or airline industry critics on Capitol Hill, these people said.

But more than five years after the initial proposal was submitted for White House regulatory review-followed by a series of rewrites that ping-ponged back and forth-Federal Aviation Administration officials now appear ready to release the final version. It complies with a mandate Congress adopted in 2010 legislation, in the wake of a public outcry over the 2009 Colgan Air crash.

In the past, the FAA indicated the primary reason for the delay in releasing the regulations was a debate over whether estimated benefits exceeded projected costs. A recent Transportation Department summary computed that between 2015 and 2024, costs and benefits were projected to be roughly equal.

According to the summary by the department, which oversees the FAA, the rules also are intended to combat "inadequate leadership (on) the flight deck." Airlines will have to establish or modify pilot-mentoring programs to comply.

Many U.S. carriers already have peer-mentoring and support programs in operation, though they tend to be less formal than those initially envisioned by FAA officials and lawmakers. Some of the most effective ones rely on longstanding but often informal arrangements between management and pilot union leaders to help aviators struggling with personal issues or substance abuse problems. Those typically aren't regulated by the FAA.

But the package that is expected to be released soon, perhaps as early as the next few weeks, focuses on mentoring programs to help foster leadership skills, professionalism and career development. The website of the Transportation Department anticipates a roughly three-month period to receive and assess public comments. One person familiar with the matter, however, is expecting the requirements to be issued in October as part of final rules.

In addition to Congress, the National Transportation Safety Board has urged the FAA to take such a step.

In the website summary of the rules, the FAA indicates the proposal aims to "mitigate unprofessional pilot behavior," which "would reduce pilot errors that can lead to a catastrophic event."

Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com