Tue, Jan 24, 2012
Challenging The Exclusion Of Cargo Pilots From Flight Time
Rules
The Independent Pilots Association (UPS pilots) filed its
preliminary statement of issues on Monday as ordered by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in its challenge to the FAA's
exclusion of cargo operations from its final rule on pilot flight
and duty time. "Our preliminary statement of issues outlines the
basic arguments we will raise to advance our case," said IPA
General Counsel William Trent; "It is the basis of our challenge to
the FAA's exclusion of cargo airlines from the final rule."
He added that IPA does not seek to vacate or delay the rule
itself.
The Association is challenging the exclusion of cargo operators
on the following grounds:
The FAA's capricious decision to discard its August 2010 proposal
that uniformly applied science-based flight and duty time rules to
both passenger and cargo carriers is based on a cursory assertion
that compliance costs for cargo operations significantly exceed the
related societal benefits;
The FAA's arbitrary assumptions and estimates in its cost-benefit
analysis lack substantial evidence;
The FAA failed to act in accordance with law by not providing
interested parties an opportunity to review and comment on its
cost-benefit calculations, the FAA's sole basis for its
determination to exclude cargo operations from the final
rule;
and The FAA failed to act in accordance with law by ignoring the
fatigue facts and factors that are more prevalent in cargo
operations, specifically night-time operations and flying across
multiple time zones.
"The Court has ordered the FAA to file the certified index of
the record, essentially a catalog of the regulatory docket, by
February 6," said Trent; "This will be the first chance we have to
review the entire record relied upon by the FAA in reaching its
decision on the final rule."
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