Legislation Introduced To Extend Crew Duty And Rest Limits To Cargo Pilots

Airline industry trade organization Airlines for America (A4A) on Monday reaffirmed its support for the FAA's pilot duty and rest times rule, which was "rigorously analyzed" over a two-year period, and urged Congress to reject recently-introduced legislation by Congressmen Michael Grimm (R-NY) and Tim Bishop (D-NY) to extend those rules beyond passenger airlines to all-cargo carriers.

"We are in the safest period of aviation history, an achievement reached through a shared commitment the FAA, the airlines and their employees, and the new FAA rule continues to put the safe operation of passenger and cargo airlines first for customers and crew members," said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio (pictured). "All stakeholders actively participated in the rulemaking, which was composed of a scientific review of existing safety measures, fatigue mitigations and diverse airline operating environments, and the rule as put forward by the FAA builds on our safety record."

A4A contends that the proposed legislation is ill-advised with no basis in science or relevant data.

The pilot duty and crew rest rules were issued in December 2011. At the time, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the rules a "major safety achievement." The rules established lower accumulated flight times and a 10 hour minimum rest period. Pilots' unions, particularly those representing pilots for cargo carriers, have lobbied to have the rules extended to cargo pilots since their establishment, saying the airplane does not care whether it is carrying people or cargo, and that the effects of fatigue on pilots are the same whether they are flying passengers or freight.

FMI: www.airlines.org