As a result
of the Colgan Air accident, the FAA implemented new regulations on flight and
duty time requirements. These changes are designed to increase the safety of
pilots, and in turn, increases the safety of the flying public. The new flight
limitation rules state that, “If the pilot’s first flight of the day begins
between 5 a.m. and 7:59 p.m., the maximum flight time limitation is nine hours
if there is only one pilot on the flight.” (Joyner, n.d.) If the pilot’s first
flight is anywhere outside of that time frame, they are limited to 8 hours of
flying. Additionally, if there is a third pilot on the plane, or if there is an
extra crew, the limitation can be extended to 13 or 17 hours. The changes also
apply to duty time. Duty time is defined as, “the moment a pilot reports for
duty with the expectation of conducting a flight and does not end until he has
parked the plane used on his last flight.” (Joyner, n.d.) Flight duty includes,
but is not limited to, standing by at the airport, training, and repositioning
by traveling as a passenger. With single crew operations, the new regulations
state that flight duty limitations are between 9 and 14 hours. With multiple
crew operations, duty limitations are between 13 and 19 hours. The new
regulations, also stressed important changes in rest periods for pilots. They
state, that pilots are now required a minimum of 10 hours of rest with
absolutely no exceptions. Within the 10 hours, the pilot must have the
opportunity for 8 hours of sleep.
These
regulations are pretty significant changes from the rules previously in place.
The former rules do not, “explicitly address the amount of time a pilot can be
on duty”. (FAA, 2010) They focused on flight and rest limitations. The pilot
was limited to 8 hours of flight in a 24-hour time period, but that could be
extended if they got additional rest. The rules on rest requirements stated:
the pilot needs to be able to look back in any preceding
24-hour period and find that he/she has had an opportunity for at least eight
hours of rest. If a pilot’s actual rest is less than nine hours in the 24-hour
period, the next rest period must be lengthened to provide for the appropriate
compensatory rest. (FAA, 2010)
The new
rules give pilots a whole extra hour of rest, and differ even more because,
previously, unforeseen circumstances allowed companies to reduce rest breaks to
8 hours.
Currently,
air cargo operations have the option to voluntarily follow the new regulations
described above, but are under no legal obligation to do so. Their current
regulations place no limitation on flying at night, and since the new
regulations mandatory for passenger operations do, it is inconvenient for cargo
carriers, since they do most of their flying during the night. The reason
stated most frequently for exempting cargo from the regulations, is the
associated cost with the change. In an
article from USA Today, the author states, “it would cost the industry
$550 million to comply, outweighing safety benefits. Originally, it said the
rules would cost an additional $214 million.” (Carroll, 2014) Whether it is ethical
to have a monetary value outweigh the value of lives or not, is a whole other
discussion.
I do believe
that cargo carriers should be included in the new regulations on Flight and
Duty requirements. To work pilots with minimum rest, pretty much guarantees fatigue,
whether the pilots claim they are fatigued, or not. The whole purpose of the
new regulations is to not only promote the safety of the pilots, but to keep
the public safe as well. Even if the pilots are flying cargo, if a plane
crashes into the ground, there is a high possibility of people being injured on
the ground.
If cargo
carriers were included in the new regulations, it would only affect me, as a
pilot, in a positive way. It would make regulation requirements equal to the
requirements of airlines, which would ultimately give me a higher quality of
life. The only thing that could possibly pose an issue, is if pilots were
required to have a higher rest requirement, companies may have to hire more
pilots, which could cause salaries to decrease. The change in regulations is
going to cost them such an outrageous amount, they will try to save money in
every way they can.
References:
Carroll, J.R. (2014, March 14). UPS
pilots urge more rest for cargo crews. Retrieved from
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/ups-pilots-urge-more-rest-for-cargo-crews/6402615/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/ups-pilots-urge-more-rest-for-cargo-crews/6402615/
FAA. (2010, January 27). Fact sheet –
pilot flight time, rest, and fatigue. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=6762
Joyner, J. (n.d.). Duty limitations of an faa pilot. Retrieved
from http://work.chron.com/duty-limitations-faa-pilot-17646.html
Good research Dan! I found similar information with regards to cargo carriers not voluntarily complying to the new crew rest requirements. I completely understand the possibility of a potential profit loss for a cargo company however, I don't not think it should outweigh the safety benefits of new crew rest requirements.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting situation to consider would be: What if an accident had occurred with the probable cause labeled as pilot fatigue in a cargo airline operation?
When you consider the amount of hours and flight duty time that cargo pilots could be flying, such an accident becomes a serious possibility. And in the event of such an accident, there is good chance that we will see new regulations improving new cargo crew rest requirements anyways. I would like to see at least some sort of improvement in the crew rest requirements for cargo airline operators.
I agree that if the change is implemented to the cargo industry they will attempt to make back the money in any other way they can. It is likely that this hit will be felt by both the pilots flying the planes as well as anyone who is using the service to ship goods. While some companies will continue to ship their goods no matter the cost, I believe that there will be many who will be priced out of the service. This reaction could lead to a lower profit made by the shipping companies, which would likely cause pilot pay to be reduced even further. I agree that a change should be made, however it needs to be done at the lowest cost possible to preserve the industry.
ReplyDeleteGood Piece Dan. I do agree more pilots would have to be hired if cargo carriers opted into the new rules. I do also agree with the aspect that this would cause salaries to decrease due to the fact the there are going to be more pilots flying. If cargo carriers are going to opt into this rule. This has to be done in a step-by-step process where the costs and benefits of opting are weighed out
ReplyDelete