Sinema’s received nearly $200,000 in contributions from the airline industry; $54,350 in 2022 alone
Yesterday, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) took the extraordinary step of calling out Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s dangerous proposal at the behest of the airline industry to loosen pilot training requirements. Duckworth explicitly said the proposal will result in “blood on your hands,” and she elaborated: “Now is not the time to put corporate profits ahead of the lives of our constituents who may want to board a commercial flight in the future.”
Sinema’s proposal to reduce the number of training hours for pilots is supported by commercial airlines, but opposed by the Air Line Pilots Association, which said in a letter that the measure would undermine safety. Similar proposals to Sinema’s have already been rejected by the Biden administration.
Notably, Senator Duckworth, who chairs the aviation safety subcommittee, has a great deal of credibility in this area: she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Iraq before being shot down by enemy fire and losing both her legs. Sinema, meanwhile, chaired the subcommittee in the previous Congress and has worked to advance measures that benefit the corporate airlines instead of consumers or flight crew.
The conflict over Sinema’s dangerous proposal stalled the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, with Senate markup of that bill now indefinitely delayed.
Given Sinema’s rich history of taking corporate campaign contributions and doing corporate bidding, it comes as no surprise that Sinema has received nearly $200,000 in contributions from the airline industry, including more than $54,000 in 2022 alone.
“It’s no surprise that Sinema once again puts the interests of her corporate donors over her constituents – but it’s appalling that she would jeopardize safety and risk people’s lives to do so,” said Replace Sinema spokesperson Sacha Haworth.
Read more:
Arizona Republic: ‘Blood on your hands’: Democratic senator rips pilot training rule backed by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema
June 16, 2023 // Ron Hansen
Politico: ‘Blood on your hands’: Duckworth blasts Sinema for pilot training proposal
June 15, 2023 // Irie Sentner
Washington Examiner: FAA reauthorization bill markup stalled in Senate committee amid pilot training
June 15, 2023 // Emily Jacobs & Samantha-Jo Rich
###