Last-Minute Lobbying Stalls August 1 Implementation Of Rules

Two years ago, in his first appearance at Oshkosh as FAA Administrator, former airline pilot and former pilot union president Randy Babbitt made it clear that getting crew rest and duty rules updated would be a front-burner priority for him. It still hasn't happened, and if the airlines have their way, it might be delayed much longer.

FAA Admin. Randy Babbitt

New rules were supposed to take effect on Monday, but the Wall Street Journal reports that direct appeals to the White House Office of Management and Budget have prompted the administration to review the rules, potentially adding weeks or months to the date on which they might take effect.

The strongest opponents of the new rules appear to be cargo and charter operators, who criticize the rules as a "one size fits all" approach. Using scientific research on sleep patterns, the FAA concluded that pilots need at least nine hours off between shifts, not the eight currently mandated, and need their workdays limited to 13 hours, down from 16, including any work they do on the ground.

But in cases of flights which include periods of darkness and multiple takeoffs and landings, which are much more common in the regional, charter and cargo sectors, shifts could be limited to as little as nine hours. The National Air Carrier Association said earlier this year that provision could require pilot staffs to be bloated by another 40%, a disaster to companies which fly, among other missions, transport flights for US military troops.

Capt. Lee Moak

ALPA, the Air Line Pilots Association, issued a frustrated statement this week, criticizing the White House for caving on the issue. Union President Captain Lee Moak commented, "This is a safety regulation, and it is unacceptable that the OMB appears to have been pressured by a few companies whose goal is advancing their own competitive interests rather than ensuring the safety of the US air transportation system. By missing this critical deadline, the White House has stalled a historic, safety-based regulatory effort to create modern duty and rest regulations for US airline pilots."

ALPA notes that The US National Transportation Safety Board has placed addressing human fatigue on its Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements since the list was started in 1990. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which sets international safety standards for aviation, has mandated science-based pilot fatigue rules, and the union says the United States currently fails to comply by not having modern science-based regulations.

FMI: www.alpa.org