Says The FAA Should 'Reexamine The Rationale' For Some
Changes
The Allied Pilots Association (APA) has characterized some of
the FAA's proposed new flight and duty time regulations for pilots
as "a big step backwards" and urged the agency to rework certain
key provisions.
“We are pleased that the FAA has undertaken the
long-overdue process of reviewing and revising flight and duty time
rules for commercial airline pilots," said APA President Captain
David Bates. "However, we urge the FAA to reexamine the rationale
for some of the proposed changes. While some of the FAA's proposed
new rules would enhance safety, others would represent a big step
backwards."
"In APA's view, any change in the rules must be designed to
enhance safety," he said. "For example, the FAA's proposal to
reduce total time on duty during back-side-of-the-clock operations
clearly meets that standard. Unfortunately, there are some
important areas where the proposed new rules fall well short and
instead appear to be catering to industry cost-cutting
pressures."
The FAA has proposed increasing the maximum allowable time that
pilots can spend at the controls to as many as 10 hours. The
current limit is eight hours. "There is no scientific basis or
validation for a 25 percent increase in maximum flight time for
pilots," Bates said. "Common sense dictates that increasing flight
time limits will increase pilot fatigue, in turn degrading the
margin of safety."
In addition, Bates cited the proposed new rest requirements for
pilots as "insufficient." Under the proposed new rule, all
pilots—both domestic and international—would be
allotted a minimum of nine hours. "Nine hours is
insufficient—it's not enough to consistently provide pilots
with the opportunity for eight hours of sleep, which is the minimum
amount dictated by science," he said. "Under the proposed new
rules, international pilots in particular would experience a
dramatic reduction in the minimum amount of rest they would be
eligible to receive."
The FAA announced the proposed new flight and duty time rules on
September 12. A 60-day comment period that provides a formal
process for interested parties to weigh in on the proposed new
rules runs until November 13. The FAA's proposed new rules resulted
from a lengthy rule-making process that involved a cross section of
industry stakeholders, including APA.
"We will be participating in the comment period to make our
concerns known to the FAA and other interested parties," Bates
said. "While we very much welcome the prospect of updated flight
and duty time limits, it's imperative that we use this long-awaited
opportunity to enhance the margin of safety for the traveling
public. In the unforgiving world of commercial aviation, we cannot
permit bottom-line pressures to take precedence. Safety must remain
the highest priority—first, last and always."
The APA represents the 11,500 pilots who fly for American
Airlines.