Horizon Air has asked the FAA for an additional 12 months to comply with the agency’s secondary cockpit-barrier requirement, arguing that a cabin-layout mismatch on its Embraer 175s makes the currently certified solution unusable.
The FAA rule requires newly manufactured Part 121 passenger aircraft to be delivered with an Installed Physical Secondary Barrier (IPSB), a deployable device intended to provide an added layer of flight-deck security when the cockpit door is opened in flight. The compliance date was already pushed back once (to August 2026) after industry groups said certification and crew training timelines were slipping.
In a 13 February letter (posted in the U.S. regulatory docket on 17 February), Horizon said Embraer advised it in December 2025 that the certified E175 IPSB design won’t work on Horizon’s aircraft because of the airline’s forward service-area galley configuration. The approved barrier was designed around an E175 layout with a forward wardrobe, providing the forward-facing structure needed to mount the stowage box to the barrier when not deployed. Horizon’s galley reportedly lacks the required surface.
Embraer is now working on a modified barrier compatible with Horizon’s E175 layout, with the manufacturer expecting regulatory approval around July and retrofit-kit availability by September, per the filing. Horizon argues that, even with that path, the schedule could leave insufficient time to develop procedures, secure FAA approval for training, and train crews before the August 2026 deadline; hence, the exemption request.
Operationally, the case is a reminder that “simple” security mandates can become rate-and-configuration dependent in the regional-fleet world: small interior differences (wardrobe vs. galley) can force re-engineering, re-certification, and a fresh training clock, right when airlines are already juggling deliveries, manuals, and recurrent training bandwidth.
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