New FAA rules....tidbits

[airlinepilot]

I had a long conversation with a member that is helping write the new FAA rules for duty, flying time etc. He said that what they are drafting is going to happen and very quickly. He said they have already heard from large numbers in Congress who are very unhappy about the Cologan accident! They want change and not tired pilots. Here is some of the things he shared with me:

1. Commuters don't have anything to worry about. They know they cannot track where people live or commute from.

2. Duty day will most likely be 12 hours. No increase from the scheduled max of 8 hrs flying time (although he said ALPA tried to get it raised to 9 hrs).

3. Like our 30/7 or 100/30 hour rule (which will probably not change) there will also be a max duty time in a 7 and 30 day period.

4. Your rest period will allow you approx 8 hours at the hotel. Your rest period will not start until you arrive at your hotel. Your duty period will be when you lobby at the hotel. Not when you arrive at the gate.

5. The 9 hr rest period will be gone. Most likely around 10 hour rest period.

6. Duty periods that start late (interfere with your normal circadian rhythm) will be more restrictive than the normal duty period.

7. Reserve blocks will probably be 12 hours. However, reserve blocks late at night might be shorter in concert with the attempt to make shorter duty periods when the duty starts later in the day.

8. Stand-up overnights will most likely be a thing of the past. The later a duty period starts, the sooner it must end.

9. They have also addressed ASAP reports and under the new laws companies could not take any disciplinary action against crews that submit the reports.

10. There is also a group addressing the Flight Attendants. You can expect their duty rules to closely mirror those of the pilots.


The bottom line is they have gathered alot of data concerning flying long days, multiple stops and schedules that interfere with your bodies circadian rhythm. He also said that they expect to finish work in the next 30 to 60 days and that the airlines will most likely have 180 days to comply.

 

[TWA Dude]

This is great news but what about the poop-storm the ATA will raise? Implementation of these rules would require enormous scheduling changes which means canceled flights. I just don't see it happening except under a multi-year phase-in.

 

[Green Banana]

Not going to happen. All this will be looked at, then the ATA will lobby. They will say that these rule changes will cause airlines to go bankrupt. There is NO WAY they could hire and train enough pilots to comply in two years, much less 180 days.

 

[brokeflyer]

yeah until us pilots start greasing congress like the azz hole management does with all the stolen money they rape froma company, it will never change.

It'll be considered "acceptable losses" to have a few accidents.....the profit will outweight the safety issues.

Although safety will be their number one concern, as long as it dont interfere with profits.

 

[JoeMerchant]

....and yet the Colgan crew would still be legal under these new rules.

 

[Raoul Duke]

I have heard the opposite on commutting, the new regs are aiming at requiring pilots to be in base 8 hours prior to trip

 

[airlinepilot]

I think it is going to happen. He said ATA is represented in the meeting and although they have tried to do somethings they themselves have been told my members of congress that things are going to change because "we don't want anymore tired pilots flying airplanes". The flavor of the meetings is that everyone knows we need change. The FAA has spent alot of money collecting data (medical, NTSB, NASA, etc) and a fight by ATA is not going to be recieved well in Congress. Most of the guys in Congress never realized how long our hours can be, etc. Bottom line is the new FAA chief has said he has zero interest in every moving up the political chain and only wants to do what is right. Between the marching orders in Congress and the FAA Chief.....I think ATA is not going to be able to win this one.....it's long overdue.

 

[airlinepilot]

Not what he said

I have heard the opposite on commutting, the new regs are aiming at requiring pilots to be in base 8 hours prior to trip

Commutting was my first question to him. He flatly said it was discussed but they know there is absolutely no way to control or monitor it. He said no rules on commuting.

 

[densoo]

Because of the fast track nature of this major change, the FAA is essentially taking the CAA reg and adopting 95% of it. Here is the pdf link for their current reg: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP371.PDF

Some things I noted:

- 10 hours behind the hotel door
- a simple chart shows the duty day (section B, p. 9)
- time on duty is what is counted, not just flight time per day
-- i.e., you could fly an LAX turn from ORD as long you don't exceed duty day
-- the more legs you fly, the shorter the duty day
- reserve rest is equal to preceeding time on duty, including oncall time
- a "day off" is 34 hours which has to include two nights
- flight time limits are a 28-day, quarterly, yearly, lookback
- shorter term limits are based on duty time, not flight time; average of xx hours on duty (not just flying) on a x-day lookback

 

[EMB_driver2002]

Anyone know if the re-work in the FT DT rules is just going to be Domestic 121 or are they going to tackle international and supplemental 121 too?