ALPA Marks Long-Awaited Secondary Flight Deck Barrier Requirement

ALPA Calls on Airlines to Retrofit Existing Fleet

WASHINGTON—As the nation approaches the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, a long-sought aviation security milestone has arrived. Every newly manufactured passenger aircraft now must be equipped with an installed physical secondary barrier (IPSB) to protect the flight deck when the flight deck door is opened in flight, with very limited exceptions. While the milestone represents real, hard-won progress, the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA) is once again calling on airlines to finish the job and equip all newly manufactured aircraft with IPSBs, as well as go further and retrofit these secondary barriers on the aircraft already flying.

“Secondary barriers on new aircraft are the law of the land,” said Capt. Jason Ambrosi, ALPA president. “Despite decades to prepare for this common-sense security update, airlines and manufacturers continued to drag their feet with delayed deadlines. That delayed deadline has now come and gone, but not without additional attempts to postpone, which unfortunately, the FAA has granted very limited exemptions. Just last month though, the FAA denied a request from the Regional Airline Association for a new exemption.”

That attempted delay came from a petition to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for an exemption from the IPSB requirement on Embraer 170/175 aircraft, arguing certain certification issues needed to be resolved first. After requesting additional information, the FAA determined those certification issues had already been addressed and rightfully denied the exemption.

"We honor the progress we’ve made but our work isn't done. Every plane already in service, already carrying passengers, is still allowed to fly without a secondary barrier. A quarter-century removed from September 11th, that's a gap we shouldn't live with," added Ambrosi. “We are calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to issue rulemaking requiring airlines to retrofit the in-service fleet with secondary flight deck barriers without delay so that protection for the flight deck doesn't depend on which aircraft happens to show up at the gate.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 80,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us @ALPAPilots on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X.

Contact: ALPA Media, 703-481-4440 or Media@alpa.org.

Additional Background

Secondary flight deck barriers add another critical layer when the flight deck door is opened during flight, helping prevent unauthorized access to the flight deck and enhancing security for everyone on board. On September 11, 2001, terrorists exploited the vulnerability of an unprotected flight deck to carry out attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and forever changed aviation security. In the 25 years since, ALPA has advocated for secondary flight deck barriers on every passenger airliner and primary barriers on every all-cargo aircraft as a common-sense measure to close that vulnerability and help ensure such an attack can never happen again.

According to IBA's Fleet Asset Report, more than 150 newly manufactured aircraft equipped with secondary barriers are expected to be delivered to U.S. airlines between now and the end of 2026 alone, with hundreds more joining fleets each year through the end of the decade.

The secondary barrier requirement has been over two decades in development:

2002: FAA required reinforced flight deck doors with just 15 months to comply—successfully met

2003: Two major airlines voluntarily installed secondary barriers

2011: Industry developed design guidance through RTCA’s “Aircraft Secondary Barriers and Alternative Flight Deck Security Procedures”

2015: FAA formally acknowledged secondary barriers' effectiveness

2018: Congress mandated secondary barriers in FAA Reauthorization Act

2023: FAA issued final rule with August 2025 implementation date

2025: FAA announced a one-year delay in implementing mandatory flightdeck secondary barriers