FAA seeks to develop better practices for human organ transport on airliners

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking to improve conditions and regulations for the transport of human organs on commercial airliners

As part of a program to improve organ donation and transplant, the US government, specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, have recently launched the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model. The model aims to increase access to life-saving transplants for patients living with end-stage renal disease and reduce Medicare expenditures. This model focuses on providing incentives to transplant hospitals to increase transplantation.

In anticipation of the program, which will begin July 2025, the FAA submitted a final report to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), outlining what it identified as best practices when transporting human organs by air. 

Under the current regulatory frameworks of the FAA, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the transportation of organs through security checkpoints and on airplanes is permitted. 

However, there are no statutory or regulatory barriers preventing organ transportation in the cabin, and there are no specific restrictions when it comes to standard size, weight, and how to securely place the organ within the airplane. The decision to permit organ or biological material in the cabin or the cargo hold, along with any related policies or procedures, is left to the discretion of each individual airline.

@FAANews released the Organ Transportation Working Group’s recs on how to improve the transportation of organs on commercial airplanes. We’re pleased there’s alignment with some of our recs to strength the donation and transplant systemLearn how improvements will reduce… https://t.co/2aId6vhdmM— United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) (@UNOSNews) May 13, 2025 The FAA recently established the Organ Transport Working Group, in accordance with Section 1102 of the FAA Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2024.

Under the FAA and TSA regulatory frameworks, organs are considered “cargo” whether they aretransported in the cabin or in the cargo hold of a plane.

Organs are permitted through airport security checkpoints. Fragile medical materials consist of, but are not limited to, blood, human organs, bone marrow, skin, human embryos, and eyeballs. Medical couriers can request assistance from a supervisor or Passenger Support Specialist (PSS) upon arrival at the checkpoint.

The FAA’s 38-page report includes suggestions on how to transport specific organs (by weight, type or urgency of case), and also a request to form, within 90 days, a working group to formalize standards and regulation on how to best transport human organs via airlines.

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