Carriers Say Change Is Needed... But Process Must Be Followed

In the face of considerable resistance and a threatened lawsuit from the airlines, the FAA has backed down on imposing new crew rest requirements for long-haul flights until a formal rulemaking process can be conducted.

As ANN reported, the FAA had drafted new requirements based on a voluntary plan adopted in 2006 by Delta after negotiations with its pilots. The change was intended to address new longer-range airliners, which have rendered decades-old rules about minimum crew rest requirements obsolete.

But the airlines pushed back -- acknowledging there is scientific evidence the longer flights require changes to manage fatigue, but asserting the FAA needed to go through the formal process to gather the best available data on which to base a new rule set.

The Wall Street Journal reports the initiative would have mandated longer layovers for pilots, and could have required some carriers to redesign cabins to provide additional sleeping areas for flight crews. Airlines also worried that doing an end-run around the formal rulemaking process could set a precedent allowing the FAA to bypass the process on other issues in the future.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been after the FAA for years to impose tougher, wide-ranging fatigue-prevention rules.

FMI: www.faa.gov