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ALPA's president, Capt. Prater, testified before the House Subcommittee on Aviation on June 6 regarding the NTSB’s “Most Wanted” aviation safety improvement list. He praised the Board for including fatigue but added two more important items.
“Pilot fatigue made the ‘Most Wanted’ list, and we commend the NTSB for addressing one of the most pressing issues in the aviation industry today,” said Prater. “Simply put, pilots are tired.”
After Prater walked the congressional members through a sample 8-hour period between flying for an airline pilot, he then urged them to encourage the FAA to modernize flight- and duty-time regulations and rest requirements for the safety of the traveling public.
He also urged the NTSB to include on its “Most Wanted” list the need for industry wide adoption of non-punitive safety reporting programs, such as ASAP and FOQA; and increased training levels for today’s new-hire pilots who are less experienced than pilots hired in the past.
“Frontline employees are the ultimate safety net in our industry,” Prater stated. “That’s why ALPA believes that non punitive safety reporting programs should be high on the NTSB’s ‘Most Wanted’ list. We consider them to be standard-issue, must-have items for airline safety.”
Prater told subcommittee members that ALPA’s air safety representatives recently met with senior FAA officials and developed new language that would improve safety reporting programs, encouraging the creation of additional ASAP programs at more airlines.
Finally, ALPA addressed the decline in the amount of experience that new-hire pilots have in the industry today, saying that the airlines’ inadequate training programs do nothing to help these new pilots become seasoned aviators.
“When I was first hired as a pilot, I had to have 2,500 hours of flight time—hands-on experience,” Prater said. “Today, at some regional airlines, pilots need as few as 200 hours of flight time to land a job. This concerns us and should raise a red flag for others in the industry.”
Prater said these pilots, who may become captains of 50-, 70-, or 90-passenger jets in little more than a year, are likely to be bright and talented, but that’s no substitute for experienced, seasoned pilots. ALPA warned Congress that this type of training, along with other programs like multicrew pilot license, or MPL, creates pilots who get their experience almost entirely through on-the-job training—with the lives of passengers in their hands.
Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), chairman of the Subcommittee, ended the hearing by saying it would not be the last. Some of these issues, including runway incursions, have been on the list since the NTSB started it in 1990, Costello said, and it’s time for the FAA to implement new technologies that are already available that address these issues.
“Pilot fatigue made the ‘Most Wanted’ list, and we commend the NTSB for addressing one of the most pressing issues in the aviation industry today,” said Prater. “Simply put, pilots are tired.”
After Prater walked the congressional members through a sample 8-hour period between flying for an airline pilot, he then urged them to encourage the FAA to modernize flight- and duty-time regulations and rest requirements for the safety of the traveling public.
He also urged the NTSB to include on its “Most Wanted” list the need for industry wide adoption of non-punitive safety reporting programs, such as ASAP and FOQA; and increased training levels for today’s new-hire pilots who are less experienced than pilots hired in the past.
“Frontline employees are the ultimate safety net in our industry,” Prater stated. “That’s why ALPA believes that non punitive safety reporting programs should be high on the NTSB’s ‘Most Wanted’ list. We consider them to be standard-issue, must-have items for airline safety.”
Prater told subcommittee members that ALPA’s air safety representatives recently met with senior FAA officials and developed new language that would improve safety reporting programs, encouraging the creation of additional ASAP programs at more airlines.
Finally, ALPA addressed the decline in the amount of experience that new-hire pilots have in the industry today, saying that the airlines’ inadequate training programs do nothing to help these new pilots become seasoned aviators.
“When I was first hired as a pilot, I had to have 2,500 hours of flight time—hands-on experience,” Prater said. “Today, at some regional airlines, pilots need as few as 200 hours of flight time to land a job. This concerns us and should raise a red flag for others in the industry.”
Prater said these pilots, who may become captains of 50-, 70-, or 90-passenger jets in little more than a year, are likely to be bright and talented, but that’s no substitute for experienced, seasoned pilots. ALPA warned Congress that this type of training, along with other programs like multicrew pilot license, or MPL, creates pilots who get their experience almost entirely through on-the-job training—with the lives of passengers in their hands.
Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), chairman of the Subcommittee, ended the hearing by saying it would not be the last. Some of these issues, including runway incursions, have been on the list since the NTSB started it in 1990, Costello said, and it’s time for the FAA to implement new technologies that are already available that address these issues.
