BUSINESSDECEMBER 20, 2011, 9:55 P.M. ET
FAA Set to Release Pilot-Fatigue Rules
By ANDY PASZTOR
Federal air-safety regulators on Wednesday are set to issue new regulations overhauling decades-old fatigue rules for commercial pilots, but the tighter work-hour limits won't be mandatory for airlines that only transport cargo, according to people familiar with the plan.
After more than two years of controversy and repeated industry complaints to lawmakers and White House officials about the cost of changing the rules, the Federal Aviation Administration is slated to release a package of new regulations to combat fatigue in the cockpit.
The regulations establish scientifically based limits on how many hours each day crews can sit behind an airplane's controls, and how long they can be on the clock. In making new rules, the FAA sought to guarantee that pilots take at least nine hours of rest between shifts, instead of the eight now mandated. It also wanted to reduce workdays for pilots, especially those flying relatively short trips for commuter carriers, if their shifts included multiple takeoffs and landings late at night or early in the morning.
Officials at the FAA and the Department of Transportation and White House have declined to comment on specifics, and trade associations representing passenger and cargo airlines on Tuesday said they hadn't been informed about any details. Officials at pilot unions said they are waiting for the announcement before commenting.
The release of the new regulations marks an end to a long fight by cargo carriers large and small that were vehemently opposed to the changes on the grounds that the costs to comply with the rules would be excessive. The FAA will allow cargo airlines to fly under either the old or new rules.
However, charter operators that carry passengers along with airlines that fly troops for the Pentagon—industry segments that also complained loudly about compliance costs—would be required to comply, these people said.
Passenger carriers also objected to major parts of the proposed regulations, which the FAA issued in the fall of 2010. The proposed restrictions initially applied equally to various types of carriers. Focused on changes long debated among unions, regulators and industry groups, the agency said at the time that it sought to rely on new scientific understanding of the causes of fatigue to create safer, more-flexible flight schedules tailored to different types of operations.
The final rule is expected to leave most of those details unchanged, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Michael Huerta, the acting FAA chief, have scheduled a Wednesday news briefing to announce the package.
Representatives of cargo and charter carriers argued that because of unique schedules and shifting routes, they would have to hire many more pilots and face inordinate increases in operating costs under the FAA's 2010 proposal. In the face of such complaints, officials at the White House Office of Management and Budget met with industry and pilot representatives and ordered a rewrite of the initial document.
FAA officials have argued that revamping 1960s-era cockpit-fatigue rules is essential in order to combat the dangers posed by sleepy, overworked pilots. The February 2009 crash of a Colgan Air turboprop near Buffalo, N.Y., which killed 50 people, sparked a public and congressional outcry over the issue of drowsy pilots.
FAA leaders tried to fend off less-stringent provisions for cargo carriers by proposing to give them extra time to comply with the rule. The officials also proposed that under certain circumstances, pilots of planes ferrying U.S. troops or military cargo automatically would be exempt from the federal fatigue-prevention mandates.
But high-ranking White House and FAA officials concluded that all commercial pilots transporting passengers, military or otherwise, should abide by the same flight-time and work-hour limits.
The decision will likely rile pilot unions, which have pushed hard for uniform fatigue rules across all parts of the industry.
Yet other major elements of the proposal are expected to give the unions something they have sought for many years: maximum 13-hour pilot workdays under normal circumstances, and in many cases as much as 25% longer blocks of time away from work. Airlines also will be given added flexibility to develop their own plans for reducing fatigue risks.
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