Duckworth, Schumer, Matsui Lead Bipartisan Call Requiring FAA to Guarantee Every Emergency Medical Kit Aboard Flights Include Life-Saving Epinephrin

October 05, 2026 Duckworth, Schumer, Matsui Lead Bipartisan Call Requiring FAA to Guarantee Every Emergency Medical Kit Aboard Flights Include Life-Saving Epinephrin The lawmakers’ call comes as the public comment period closes on the FAA’s dangerous proposed rule that would make epinephrine optional on flights [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation—U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA-07), Co-Chair of the Congressional Food Allergy Research Caucus, led a group of 20 bipartisan, bicameral lawmakers in calling on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to guarantee that emergency medical kits (EMK) on every commercial aircraft include epinephrine, a life-saving medication to treat passengers who go into anaphylactic shock. Today is the final day for the American people to submit public comments on the FAA’s dangerous new proposed rule that would result in medications being less consistent and dependable for passengers experiencing health emergencies on commercial flights—a severely misguided proposal that prioritizes flexibility for air carriers over the safety of the flying public. “Without proper medications that can easily be administered on board, medical emergencies happening while 35,000 feet in the air could turn deadly,” wrote the lawmakers in their official public comment to the FAA’s proposed rule. “The provisions outlined in the FAA’s proposed rule threaten the safety of airline passengers traveling with allergies and reverse previous FAA action to ensure the safety of all passengers.” In the landmark 2024 FAA Reauthorization Law that she co-authored, Duckworth successfully secured a provision which required the FAA to ensure commercial airlines have adequate emergency medical kits on board to treat conditions like anaphylaxis. And yet, the FAA’s proposed rule would not require them to carry epinephrine—the only medication that reliably treats this medical emergency—in delivery methods that can be easily self-administered by individuals without medical training. Duckworth and Schumer have been pushing for years to require epinephrine designed for self-administration aboard all commercial aircraft, ever since they heard from their own constituents in 2019 who shared the life-threatening scares they experienced aboard flights that lacked this key medication and delivery method. The Senators detailed these harrowing stories in a letter to airline CEOs last month , in which they called on air carriers to ensure this life-saving medication is included in all their EMKs. The lawmakers continued, “If a passenger is experiencing anaphylaxis, they could have mere seconds until they are unable to breathe. Without FDA-approved epinephrine delivery methods designed to be easily self-administered, passengers rely on the chance that there will be a good Samaritan on the flight who is a trained medical professional, or a flight attendant, in consultation with a medical professional on the ground, to quickly measure an appropriate dose of epinephrine using a vial and syringe. This is both risky and unnecessary; it is why the FAA’s working group recommended ‘pre-measured auto-delivery device’ be on the EMK contents list.” In their letter, the lawmakers hammered the FAA’s proposed rule for ignoring expert recommendations, creating an even greater lack of transparency and consistency in EMKs for the flying public—who rely on EMKs during a medical emergency—and for needlessly putting the lives of commercial airline passengers at greater risk. “To ensure the safety of all airline passengers, we must guarantee that U.S.-based airlines include FDA-approved epinephrine delivery methods designed for self-administration on every flight,” the lawmakers concluded. In light of the FAA’s misguided and dangerous proposed rule change, Duckworth, Schumer and Matsui are calling on the FAA to heed their concerns—as well as the more than 1,500 public comments that have been submitted to express deep concern over this would-be policy failure that would place cost cutting and convenience for air carriers over the safety of the flying public. In addition to Duckworth and Schumer, the letter is co-signed in the Senate by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). In addition to Matsui, the letter is co-signed in the House by U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Kelly Morrison (D-MN-03) and Mike Quigley (D-IL-05). Full text of the letter can be found below and on Senator Duckworth’s website : Dear Administrator Bedford: We write to provide our comments on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published on August 5, 2026, which would make drastic changes to how the FAA determines the composition of the emergency medical kit (EMK) carried aboard aircraft. The proposed rule is opaque and dangerous, and it threatens to undermine previous work the FAA has done to ensure the safety of the traveling public. EMKs are supposed to enable initial treatment of a passenger experiencing moderate to severe injuries or illnesses until the aircraft can land and the passenger can be transferred to emergency medical personnel. Without proper medications that can easily be administered on board, medical emergencies happening while 35,000 feet in the air could turn deadly. The proposed rule would make harmful steps to reverse work done at the agency to direct operators to include epinephrine in aircraft EMKs. Having multiple doses of epinephrine on every aircraft, in delivery methods that can be easily self-administered by individuals without medical training, is more urgent than ever. This is due to the on-flight presence of food items containing unlabeled allergens, a steady increase in the number of children with food allergies, the increased prevalence of a tick-borne illness that could create life-threatening allergies and the very real possibility that more than one passenger may require epinephrine during a single flight. The provisions outlined in the FAA’s proposed rule threaten the safety of airline passengers traveling with allergies and reverse previous FAA action to ensure the safety of all passengers. Our concerns about the proposed rule are outlined below: Lack of Alignment with Previous Recommendations The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directed the FAA to assemble a panel of experts to make recommendations on EMKs and issue a proposed rule. The FAA Onboard Medical Kits Working Group included aerospace medicine experts and physicians, physiologists, psychologists, human factors specialists, cabin safety professionals and researchers. This working group submitted its report, dated May 1, 2025, to the FAA. The report stated: “The items proposed … are intended to provide initial stabilizing Basic Life Support (BLS) care for immediately life-threatening conditions such as cardiac arrest, airway emergencies, major hemorrhage, and anaphylaxis (emphasis added), as well as to facilitate provision of limited basic first-aid interventions for minor injuries and illnesses that are known to occur in-flight.” Importantly, the proposed EMK content list in the report includes both “pre-measured auto-delivery device” or “vial-drawn kit.” Yet, just one year later, the FAA publicly defied the recommendations in this report developed by the expert working group the FAA itself commissioned. No Clear Requirement for Epinephrine Through rulemaking, the Trump administration is seeking to downgrade the EMK content list, from a binding requirement to mere optional guidance. The proposed rule would allow operators to determine what components should be included in EMKs, so long as the EMK is “practical and sufficient” to address nine conditions, including anaphylaxis: “…FAA recommends sufficient resources for anaphylaxis (sudden/acute severe allergic reaction), which may include the following signs and symptoms: hives; swelling of the mouth, throat, or tongue; difficulty breathing, rapid or weak pulse, dizziness; stomach pain; nausea or vomiting; or loss of consciousness. Treatment options could (emphasis added) include medication such as epinephrine.” Epinephrine is the first-line treatment for anaphylaxis. The final rule must contain a clear directive that EMKs shall include epinephrine. No Requirement for Epinephrine in Easily Self-Administered Forms If a passenger is experiencing anaphylaxis, they could have mere seconds until they are unable to breathe. Without Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved epinephrine delivery methods designed to be easily self-administered, passengers rely on the chance that there will be a good Samaritan on the flight who is a trained medical professional, or a flight attendant, in consultation with a medical professional on the ground, to quickly measure an appropriate dose of epinephrine using a vial and syringe. This is both risky and unnecessary; it is why the FAA’s working group recommended “pre-measured auto-delivery device” be on the EMK contents list. Currently, JetBlue, Southwest, Breeze and Frontier stock their EMKs with epinephrine auto-injectors, and American Airlines’ EMKs include both adult- and pediatric-dose epinephrine auto-injectors. Delta is in the process of transitioning its fleet to include auto-injectors in their EMKs by September 2027, and, this year, United Airlines and Allegiant Airlines will begin the work to include auto-injectors in EMKs. Even with tight profit margins, including epinephrine in delivery methods that can be easily self-administered, is possible . Through the rulemaking process, the FAA must direct airlines to include epinephrine in delivery methods that can be easily administered and not reverse course from its previous recommendations by abandoning the requirement to include epinephrine in EMKs in entirety. Lack of Transparency on Compliance The proposed rule would eliminate the exemption process, which was created to account for challenges in stocking EMKs due to drug shortages and allow airlines to substitute drugs, “without requesting an FAA exemption.” Airlines are not required to publicly or centrally report the real-time inventory and exact contents of their EMKs and have continued to operate under exemptions granted by the FAA for years. EMK suppliers and airlines can track when an EMK is opened and needs restocking, but only in instances where the kit was used. There is no means of systematically tracking incidents of allergic reactions or anaphylaxis, especially when passengers use their own epinephrine. For medical conditions that can be treated by multiple, accessible options, eliminating the need for the exemption process may make sense. However, epinephrine is the only first-line treatment for anaphylaxis. The public also deserves to know when certain items are not included in a flight’s EMK, and a rationale for the exclusion. Conclusion The proposed rule will reduce public safety and trust when flying by increasing ambiguity, subjectivity and opacity of EMK components. The proposed rule argues that increased flexibility is needed to keep up with advances in medicine but, without appropriate reporting and tracking, the Trump administration is significantly increasing the risk of major inconsistencies in EMKs from flight to flight. Predictability, consistency and transparency are all necessary to ensure passengers’ safety, particularly in cases of anaphylaxis, when minutes, or even seconds, matter. To ensure the safety of all airline passengers, we must guarantee that U.S.-based airlines include FDA-approved epinephrine delivery methods designed for self-administration on every flight. We call on the FAA to address the concerns outlined in this letter. -30- Print Tweet Previous Article