Sat, Dec 24, 2011
Adds Their Voice To Those Saying Cargo Pilots Should Not Be
Exempted
The FedEx Master Executive Council (MEC), the FedEx branch of
the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), issued a
statement concerning the FAA's final regulations regarding airline
pilot flight- and duty-time limitations and minimum rest
requirements, calling the rule "a political failure."
FedEx has joined the chorus of those saying the rule completely
ignores the safety of cargo pilots, and instead lets operators
choose to ignore the safety improvements that will benefit pilots
carrying passengers. “It is outrageous that the new rule does
not include cargo. Cargo aircraft operate into the same airspace,
into the same crowded airports surrounded by millions of homes and
face the same challenges every other professional aviator
encounters on a 24-hour basis,” said FedEx MEC Chairman Scott
Stratton.
It its news release, the FedEx MEC said "The families of the
pilots and passengers who perished in the Colgan Air Flight 3407
operating as Continental Connection accident brought the issue of
pilot fatigue to the forefront. Initially, Congress and the FAA
acted to address pilot fatigue. However, cargo carrier lobbyists
were able to use a protracted backroom process to convince federal
policy-makers that somehow cargo pilots and their families were
less worthy of fatigue protection."
The FedEx MEC says it is outraged at the casual dismissal of
cargo pilots and their families. Industry commenters asserted that,
“while a passenger-operation accident can result in numerous
fatalities, an all-cargo accident would consist primarily of
property damage.” The FAA apparently placed some value on
this absurd statement and coldly used it to justify the
subordination of cargo families. “This nonsense indicates the
character of the political process that produced this rule,”
said Captain Stratton. “It is clear that special interest
money and politics won over safety today, but we will not sit idly
by and allow another 50 years of ambivalence to take hold. Our work
to achieve a single level of safety as envisioned by the founding
members of the Air Line Pilots Association, International shall
continue. There can be no “Scheduling with Safety”
without “One Level of Safety.”
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