Carrie Hoffman on In-Flight Pumping Breaks – 'Guidance from the FAA would carry more weight'

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Carrie Hoffman offered insight on flight crews moving closer to securing the right to in-flight pumping breaks with the enactment of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act in the Law360 article, “Flight Crews Get Step Closer To In-Flight Nursing Breaks.”

In-flight crew members were excluded from the protections of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, passed in 2022, which requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space to express breast milk at work. Under the FAA Reauthorization, the FAA will have to issue guidance on in-flight pumping breaks within 180 days. 

Guidance from the FAA would carry more weight than guidance coming from the U.S. Department of Labor, said Hoffman, who is chair of Foley’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.

“The people in the Senate and in the House are saying to the FAA, we want these to be safety rules, as well as pumping rules, so make it happen,” she added.

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