Wed, Mar 09, 2016
Pilots Union Challenging Cargo Exclusion From Rest Rule
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral argument Monday for the Independent Pilots Association (UPS pilots) in its lawsuit challenging the FAA's decision to exclude all-cargo operators from the new Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements.
"It's taken four years to get our day in court, but UPS pilots are ready to outline our case for one level of aviation safety," said IPA General Counsel William Trent. "The arguments we will be making before the court ... are:
The FAA failed to execute Congress' command to promulgate regulations that address the acknowledged problems relating to pilot fatigue in all-cargo operations. Congress directed the FAA to 'issue regulations, based on the best available scientific information, to specify limitations on the hours of flight and duty time allowed for pilots to address problems relating to pilot fatigue,' and
The scientific information on fatigue does not support the FAA's exclusion of all-cargo operators from the final rule. The FAA's decision to leave all-cargo operations subject to the old Part 121 rules also violates the Safety Act because the decision leaves cargo pilots subject to rules that do not reflect the 'best available scientific information' about pilot fatigue, and
The FAA impermissibly relied on a cost-benefit analysis to ignore Congress' directive to utilize scientific information on pilot fatigue.
"Importantly, however, the IPA does not seek to overturn the new Part 117 rules as they relate to passenger operations, but only to have the Court order the FAA to reconsider the inclusion of cargo operations consistent with its mandate from Congress," Trent said.
(Source: IPA news release)
More News
An Amazing Experience Awaits The Chosen Few... Oshkosh, to us, seems the perfect place to get started on watching aviation recover the past couple of years... and so ANN is putting>[...]
“NBAA has a tremendous responsibility to the business aviation industry, and we are constantly collaborating with them. Our flight departments, professionals and aircraft own>[...]
Dead Reckoning Dead reckoning, as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed,>[...]
Aero Linx: Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) We are a public–private initiative to enhance worldwide flight operations safety in all segments of the vertical flight indust>[...]
We're Everywhere... Thanks To You! Even with the vast resources and incredibly far-reaching scope of the Aero-News Network, every now and then a story that should be reported on sl>[...]