Air TransportFAA mandates 25-hour cockpit voice recorders on new aircraft
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has finalized a rule requiring newly manufactured passenger aircraft to be equipped with cockpit voice recorders capable of retaining at least 25 hours of audio, replacing the long-standing two-hour recording standard.
The requirement will apply to new aircraft deliveries from 2027 onward. Under the rule, 25-hour CVRs will become the baseline configuration for newly produced aircraft rather than an optional feature.
The FAA said the existing two-hour loop no longer reflects how incidents and accidents are identified and reported in practice. In many cases, events are recognized only after a flight has landed, during taxi-in, or even after subsequent flight segments, by which time earlier cockpit audio may already have been overwritten.
By extending the recording window, investigators will be able to access a longer operational timeline, including crew actions and communications well before an event and in the period immediately afterward. The FAA said this additional context is often critical for understanding decision-making, workload, and human factors, and would reduce the number of investigations affected by missing CVR data.
The rule has drawn objections from pilot unions and labor groups, which have consistently raised concerns about cockpit audio recordings. Expanding the retention period has renewed debates over privacy, access controls, and the potential impact on cockpit communication. The FAA said existing protections limit the use of CVR recordings to safety investigations, but acknowledged that concerns persist over how recordings are handled once returned to operators.
Cost considerations played a role in the scope of the rule. For new aircraft, the FAA said the additional cost of installing a 25-hour CVR instead of a two-hour unit is relatively modest. Retrofitting in-service aircraft, however, can be significantly more complex and expensive, depending on equipment compatibility, installation work, and system integration.
As a result, the FAA stopped short of mandating an immediate fleetwide retrofit through this rule. Separate legislative requirements already establish retrofit obligations and timelines for certain categories of aircraft and operators, allowing compliance across the existing fleet to be phased in over time.
The agency also cited international alignment as a factor in the decision. Regulators in Europe and guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organization have already moved toward longer CVR recording durations for new aircraft, and the FAA said the rule reduces differences between US and international standards for manufacturers and operators.
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