Committee to develop best practices for transporting donated organs in airline cabin area

ByMark E. Neumann

Fact checked byGina Brockenbrough, MA

Key takeaways:

Congress has approved legislation to establish best practices on transporting donated organs in the passenger area of a commercial airliner.
A committee will be formed to prepare regulations.

Recent legislation approved by the White House to update federal aviation regulations includes developing best practices on transporting donor organs in the main cabin of a commercial airliner.

“Before the September 11 attacks, organs – primarily kidneys – were transported within a commercial flight’s main cabin under supervision of the aircrew,” the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which supports the provision, said in a press release. “The attacks prompted significant changes to airport protocols, including removing transplant professionals’ ability to accompany an organ through security without an airplane ticket.

“As a result, organs currently travel in the cargo hold and are subject to cargo business hours, which vary between airlines and are impacted by staffing shortages,” according to the release. “Organs arriving when a cargo office is closed sit on ice for prolonged periods, increasing the potential for an organ not to be used.”

The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2024, signed into law by President Joe Biden on May 16, includes a provision that will again allow transporting donor organs in the main cabin of a commercial airliner.

“Ensuring a donated organ gets to a patient on time and safely is absolutely critical, which is why UNOS has been working with the donation and transplant community and Congress to create a process to bring organs out of the cargo hold and back into the cabin of an airplane,” Maureen McBride, PhD, CEO of UNOS, said in the release. “The bill’s passage highlights the bipartisan consensus and understanding of the lifesaving importance of this issue.”

The provision in the re-authorization bill, which is called the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, calls for the working group to consider “a safe, standardized process for acceptance, handling, management and transportation of an

organ in the cabin of [a commercial airliner] aircraft; and protocols to ensure the safe and timely transport of an organ in the cabin of such aircraft, including through connecting flights.”

The Association for Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO), which supported the provision, said in a press release it will “make major improvements to the transportation of donor organs on commercial airlines and drastically reduce damage and delays to organs in transit.

“This change will save lives,” the AOPO said in the release.