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Proposed Changes to -135 Flight/Duty Time

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atpcliff

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 26, 2001
Posts
4,260
Hi!

This info is from the "Aviation International News" May, 2005 issue (p. 10).

The committee (a group of about 60 people, including people who are management in the -135 industry) that has been working on the changes to -135 (and getting rid of -125 completely) has basically finished it's work. These proposed rules will be submitted to the FAA (I believe in either Jun or Jul), and the FAA will take it from there.

Here's a synopsis of the Flight&Duty Time/Crew Rest changes to -135:
-Clarification will be made to specify when a crewmember is On Duty, in Crew Rest, or the "Availability Period"-a new type of status for crewmembers (as in on a pager).
- The committe took, overall, a conservative approach to Flight/Duty/Rest time.
- The current regs are very grey, with dozens of different interpretations of the rules.
- Crew rest changes for -135/-91 tail-end ferries have been made.
- The committee looked at Duty Breaks and eliminating Extended Duty Day due to delays.
- If Duty Breaks will be added to -135, the minimum Duty Break will be 4 hours, and it will ONLY extend your Duty Day, not Flight Time.
- There will be NO extension of Duty Days due to a delay, even if the original trip could've been completed in the original time alloted (other than, of course, if the FAA endorses a Duty Break).

- If you're off-duty/not flying, how do you/your company know if you've had enough sleep and are rested?
There are two proposed methods:
Crewmember Availability Method:
- Sleep during "Protected Time", with a "Contact Time" at the end of the "Protected Time" which starts the crewmembers "Availability Period."
Tabular Method:
- Duty/Flight/Rest in a variety of Tables
- On-Demand, Scheduled, or Regularly Assigned Ops (like EMS)
- 1, 2 and Augmented Crews
You/your company would use the table that applies to your type of operation in this method of calculating the Duty/Rest/Call times

- There will be no more 24 hour "lookback" to decide crew rest.

Further comments from the committee:
It will take a while to read through and understand these new proposed regulations, and how they will affect the operations of your organization.

The -135 operators will like the new -135 regs, as they will give them more flexibility.

Some operators, who are on the committee, said that they would not need any more pilots, but they would need more oversight and management of their crews.

The committee said that the new regs will really work well for the -135 community.

Here is the online article:
http://www.ainonline.com/issues/05_05/05_05_arc_10.htm

Cliff
YIP
 
It's about time they did something.

I flew both 125 and 135 for a few years. There is nothing safe about being on call for 24 hours, especially when the majority of the callouts happen after you have been awake all day.

Tail-end part 91 ferries were another joke. It's no safer flying fatigued all because the airplane is empty.

And I hope they are more specific about what you can take delays for. Extending your duty time because a truck is 8 hours late was far from legal or safe.
 
Hi!

There are no more delays of any kind allowed.

Cliff
YIP
 
atpcliff said:
Hi!

There are no more delays of any kind allowed.

Cliff
YIP

Glad to hear that. My former employer used to abuse that system as if they had a stack of blank checks.
 
Hi!

The Duty Break, which is now used by -121 supplemental airlines (I'm not sure about -121 scheduled, such as AWA), would consist of a rest period where the company could not contact you or require you to do any duty during the period.

A -121 supplemental pilot I know said that their Duty Breaks do not currently have a minimum time (as in the 4 hr. proposed min for -135). If it is a "longer" Duty Break, this -121 pilot's company sends him to a hotel.

If the break is 5 hours, for example, then after 5 hours that pilot may be paged or assigned to report to the airport at that time. Their Duty Day can now be extended 5 hours (but flight time won't be affected).

Cliff Lapp
YIP
 
T-Gates said:
Wow....about time for a change! Great news....

Hey Clyde....congrats on the new type! How's the MD?

Thanks T!!

Still waiting for a call about IOE. If it flies anything like the sim, it is a real gentleman's airplane to fly.
 

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