Thu, Oct 06, 2011
Union Notes Safety Regs More Than Two Months Overdue
New regulations for minimum crew rest periods, based on science,
were a personal crusade for FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt when he
first took the job. They were demanded by Congress after the Colgan
3407 crash. And a panel of industry stakeholders got together and
created them. But they've been sitting for months, bottled up in an
administrative review process.
ALPA, the Air Line Pilots Association, International, joined
more than 100 members of Congress Tuesday in calling on President
Obama to ensure that US airline pilots are adequately rested to
safely perform their jobs by directing the appropriate agencies to
immediately issue standardized flight- and duty-time limits and
minimum rest requirements for flight crews.
“Despite the two months that have passed since the
deadline set by Congress, the new science-based pilot fatigue
regulations remain stalled in bureaucratic review,” said
Captain Lee Moak, ALPA’s president (pictured). “This
delay is unconscionable, considering the risk that exists for U.S.
troops, airline passengers, and cargo shippers who rely on safe air
transportation.”
ALPA emphasizes that the FAA Aviation
Rulemaking Committee addressing airline pilot flight- and duty-time
limits included representatives from all types of flight
operations–domestic, international, regional, and
supplemental. Every segment of the industry had a voice in the
process that created a recommended science-based regulation to
provide one level of safety for all Part 121 operations.
“Given the historic collaboration and compelling science
behind these new regulations, President Obama must safeguard air
transportation by directing the swift release of a final
standardized rule,” said Captain Moak. “With the safety
of the traveling public at stake, it is simply impossible to
justify anything less than immediate action.”
ALPA represents more than 53,000 pilots at 39 airlines in the
United States and Canada.
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