Says New NPRM On Pilot Fatigue Is Being Developed "As Quickly
As Possible"
FAA Associate Administrator Peggy
Gilligan testified Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Aviation Operations,
Safety, and Security, addressing the issue of pilot fatigue. In her
testimony, she said mitigating pilot fatigue is the responsibility
of the Administration, air carriers, and the pilots themselves.
“This hearing examines the important issue of aviation
safety and pilot fatigue, and what can be done to ensure the flight
crews are well-rested and prepared," said subcommittee Chair Byron
Dorgan (D-ND). "I want to make certain the FAA moves forward
expeditiously on bringing their time and duty rules into the 21st
century. And the FAA must do the necessary work to ensure any
rules or guidelines address the systemic problems in our national
air transportation system that contribute to fatigue.”
Gilligan said the FAA has undertaken a number of efforts to
address the issue over the past 14 years, starting in 1995.
"(T)he FAA proposed a rule to change flight time and rest limits,"
she said. "The agency received more than 2,000 comments from the
aviation community and the public. Most of those comments did not
favor the rule as proposed, and there was no clear consensus on
what the final rule should say. The FAA recently withdrew this
proposed rule because it will be superseded by the current
rulemaking effort."
She went on to cite a 2008 FAA fatigue symposium, which she said
encouraged the aviation community to proactively address aviation
fatigue management issues, as well as a pilot program undertaken in
2006 by the FAA with Delta Airlines to "develop and approve fatigue
mitigation for flights between John F. Kennedy International
Airport and Mumbai, India. The flights were operated for more than
16 hours with four pilots provided that the airline followed an
FAA-approved plan to manage rest and mitigate the risk posed by
fatigue. The mitigation, approved as an Operations Specification
issued to Delta Air Lines, was specific for that city pair.
Although that specific route is no longer flown by Delta, the FAA
viewed Delta’s fatigue mitigation strategy as a model
program."
Gilligan (pictured) told the
subcommittee that this year, the FAA had chartered the Flight and
Duty Time Limitations and Rest Requirements Aviation Rulemaking
Committee (ARC) comprised of labor, industry, and FAA
representatives. The committee was charged with developing
recommendations for an FAA rule based on current fatigue science
and a thorough review of international approaches to the issue. The
ARC was chartered to provide a forum for the U.S. aviation
community to discuss current approaches to mitigate fatigue found
in international standards and make recommendations on how the
United States should modify its regulations. The ARC consisted of
18 members representing airline and labor associations, who were
selected based on their extensive certificate holder management
and/or direct operational experience. That committee submitted its
final report to the FAA on September 10.
Gilligan said based on those recommendations, the FAA is working
"as quickly as possible" to develop a new NPRM on pilot fatigue. "I
will readily acknowledge that this effort has been difficult, and
has taken us longer than we wanted or expected," she said. "The
events of the last 15 years evidence the complexity of the issue
and the strong concerns of the parties involved, and those are
clear in the current rulemaking as well. At the same time, our
focused effort since June demonstrates the high priority that
Administrator Babbitt and I, along with the rest of the FAA team,
place on overcoming these challenges and updating these regulations
to enhance safety. I am confident we will get there."