Well, here it goes;
The exemption isn't something the airline can directly petition the FAA for. It must be done as a change to the FAR's, much like the allowance for pilots in Alaska to fly 500 hours in three months during the summer. It is done by having someone in Washington (i.e. Senator) work with the FAA to put out an NPRM for a rule change.
The change being asked for is to allow up to 12 hours of flying by a two man crew in Flag operations, if the trip begins and ends in the same time zone, with no more than two legs, and it is 'daylight' flying - meaning no red-eye or 'back of the clock' flying. Whoever is pushing the change must show an 'equivelent level of safety' in the new way of flying over the present rules.
This however, would NOT change the 7 day, monthly, or yearly totals allowed for two pilot crews in Flag flying. The company sees this as a way to improve efficiency, by figuring you do more flying in less days, so you have less chance of calling in sick (less exposure time). Also there's less per-diem pay, and no hotel bill. Aside from that, I'm not sure how much improvement in efficiency there is, because each individual pilot flies the same number of hours per month, so you don't need fewer pilots.
Many of the pilots on the west coast would like this to come about, because it would be like we were back on the DC-10: Work seven or eight days a month, and home every night. Also, the company has come to the union in the past few weeks requesting a closure of the LAX and SFO bases, leaving only SEA and HNL. Needless to say, the pilots on the west coast are doing almost anything they can to show the company it would be in their best interest to keep the bases open. Flying more efficently might be enough to allow LAX and SFO to remain. My own opinion doesn't count much here. I know a lot of people want it, and even though I remember getting pretty beat-up and tired flying turns on the DC-10, if it allows us to do more of the flying we want (from the bases we want), then so be it.
On a side note, 15 more furlough notices for May 1st went out last week, and the company advised another 23 are scheduled for June 1. That brings the total to 93. Another 10 or 15 may go after the summer as the busy season ends. None of this however includes new flying that is widely rumored to be coming. It would be long distance flying to Asia and the eastern US, requiring augmented crews (more pilots). At an estimated 22 to 24 pilots per announced city pair, it wouldn't take much in the way of new flying to get a lot of our people back in the air. Lets hope for a quick turnaround in the economy, and less tension in the world.
HAL
