Arm All Pilots Act of 2015

Arm All Pilots Act of 2015

This bill revises requirements for the federal flight deck officer program.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall designate additional training facilities for:

• firearms training and recurrent training for federal flight deck officers, and
• initial firearm training and certification of pilots seeking to be deputized as federal flight deck officers.

DHS (formerly, the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security of the Department of Transportation) shall:

• require officers, but no less than once every six months, to requalify to carry firearms on domestic flights; and
• permit officers to requalify at certified private or government-owned gun ranges.

DHS may require certain limitations on initial and recurrent training for such officers.

The bill revises the authority of federal flight deck officers to carry firearms on domestic and foreign flights.

DHS may not establish medical or physical standards for a pilot to become a federal flight deck officer inconsistent with or more stringent than Federal Aviation Administration requirements for issuance of a first- or second-class airman medical certificate.

A pilot deputized as a federal flight deck officer may move from inactive to active status after completing one recurrent training program.

DHS shall allow officers to be screened through the Transportation Security Administration's Known Crew Member program when entering an airport sterile area.

Each air carrier certifying to DHS that it has a pilot deputized as a federal flight deck officer on all its flights shall receive a refund of up to 10% of security service fees collected from passengers on flights operated by that air carrier.

DHS shall revise certain federal regulations to classify information about deputized pilots as sensitive security information.