The FAA has accepted a petition from Pilots for HIMS Reform for review that seeks changes to the agency’s Human Intervention Motivation Study (HIMS) program and other areas of aeromedical certification. The agency assigned the Aug. 20 petition Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2026-10399.
The proposal covers HIMS monitoring, special issuance certification, substance-related and psychiatric reviews, independent medical evaluations and deadlines for FAA decisions.
Changes Sought
HIMS originated in the 1970s as a program intended to allow pilots diagnosed with substance dependence to receive treatment and potentially return to flying under monitoring. The FAA says HIMS-trained aviation medical examiners evaluate pilots for substance- or alcohol-related conditions and other mental conditions and can provide sponsorship and monitoring when required for certification. In a 2024 Safety Briefing, the agency said thousands of pilots had been treated, monitored and returned to flying through the program and cited an 85% success rate.
The group is asking the FAA to establish defined monitoring periods, objective criteria for stepping down from monitoring and an identifiable route to unrestricted medical certification. Other proposals include independent review of disputed aeromedical decisions, processing deadlines, updated substance-use-disorder standards and self-sponsored access for GA pilots who do not participate through an airline or union.
“It would not create an entitlement to fly while medically unqualified,” Pilots for HIMS Reform wrote in its petition. “It would require, however, that materially burdensome restrictions be tied to a disclosed safety rationale, supported by current individualized evidence, no more restrictive than reasonably necessary, subject to meaningful review, and terminated when the regulatory justification ends.”
FAA Review Begins
“After an initial review, the FAA has determined that your petition contains sufficient information to be accepted by the FAA for review,” the agency said in an Aug. 24 acknowledgment letter.
Acceptance allows the FAA to consider the proposal and does not indicate that the agency has agreed to begin rulemaking. The FAA said it may also request additional information during its review.
The proposal arrives as the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General conducts a separate audit of FAA oversight of HIMS. That review began in March and is examining the agency’s administration of the program.
This has been a long time coming. Pilots for HIMS Reform isn’t just seeking to “improve” HIMS. They’re seeking to replace HIMS with a better program, known as “Aviation Evaluation and Recovery Oversight Pathway”, or AEROPath.
For far too long, the FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine has been largely unchecked. Countless arbitrary and capricious aeromedical decision making seems to be the theme. Airmen falling victim to false positive EtG/EtS tests, which the FAA treats as a verified positive regardless of what more detailed follow up testing shows. People who have DUIs from 15-20 years ago who haven’t drank since are even getting caught in the HIMS net. Endless lifetime monitoring. It’s called the “Hotel California” program for a reason. And the science it’s all based on is junk science. The doctors running the program aren’t even specialized/qualified in substance abuse medicine. The latest issue? Publishing one rule while enforcing another (67.x07(a) listing Substance Dependence as aeromedically disqualifying, “unless there is evidence satisfactory to the Federal Air Surgeon of recovery”, yet under the current FAS, there is no amount of evidence of recovery that she will ever find satisfactory, as evidenced by her statements at a seminar she did at the AOPA exhibit at AirVenture 2026).
The reform bill also adds a 5 year statute of limitations, which bars the FAA from using motor vehicle actions older than 5 years as a basis for a substance dependence diagnosis, and any airman that were roped into HIMS based on offenses that were older than 5 years at the time of application are to be returned to unrestricted status.
The days of hiding behind the blanket of “aviation safety” and interest balancing legal defenses are over. AEROPath is the way forward, bringing FAA mental health standards in congruency with the prevailing DSM standards, offering a recovery path that will ultimately lead qualified pilots back to unrestricted certification.
Thank you for such a great overview. Whilst I was generally and only peripherally aware of the FAA-AME circus your specifics are well received thought still slightly embarrassed that I thought the article was about the FAA changing policy on pilots taking the HIMS ED treatment.