Union says FAA missed deadline to start ramp‑worker safety review required by 2024 FAA law

The Transport Workers Union told the House Subcommittee on Aviation that the FAA has not initiated a legally mandated review of ramp worker safety and that the delay leaves frontline workers exposed to known hazards.

Andre Sutton, air division director and international vice president of TWU, told the committee that the reauthorization law requires the FAA to "issue a call to action to review ramp workers' safety practices" and that the agency had missed the November 2024 deadline. "FAA has not studied ramp worker safety since 02/2002," Sutton said during his testimony, and he reported recent workplace fatalities and serious injuries in multiple airports.

Sutton and other witnesses described a string of recent tragedies and near‑misses involving ramp workers; the subcommittee referred to "at least 5 ramp workers" who have died in the past two and a half years. Witnesses and members urged faster FAA implementation of statutory directives, clearer timelines and a role for workers in setting standards and training.

TWU told lawmakers the required law included a worker voice component and other protections, but "nearly a year after its enactment, none of the provisions most important to the TWU have been fully implemented," Sutton said in his opening remarks. He urged the subcommittee to press the FAA to complete the review and to adopt its recommendations.

Lawmakers pressed witnesses on training for handling mobility devices and on requirements for overseas repair stations; witnesses said training guidance and drug and alcohol testing standards for foreign repair stations remain incomplete and enforcement inconsistent.

The union said immediate implementation of the reauthorization provisions would help reduce injuries and fatalities, improve worker retention and provide the protections ramp workers seek.