This is one example where having a national Union, with influence in the halls of Congress, is good for ALL pilots.
ALPA: New fatigue rules, safety reporting 'protection' necessary
Tuesday February 3, 2009 The Air Line Pilots Assn. asked for US FAA to develop more stringent flight- and duty-time rules to prevent pilot fatigue and called on Congress to pass legislation protecting pilots who report safety concerns.
The world's largest pilots' union, comprising 53,000 members in North America, outlined its 2009 agenda at a Washington briefing yesterday, claiming that the US regulatory and legal framework regarding pilots is weak and open to disparate interpretations. It also warned that freighter aircraft are vulnerable to hijackings.
Citing a recent ALPA poll that found 63% of its members had flown fatigued or with a fatigued copilot in the preceding four months, President John Prater said current flight- and duty-time regulations are "a patchwork of rules developed decades ago before the age of jet airliners" and pushed for a "complete overhaul" of rules that he said should be based on a yet-to-be-funded government-sponsored study that would determine scientifically a single, across-the-board standard.
Such a rules modification "is going to require a strong FAA administrator who is willing to regulate rather than reach a consensus with all parties," he said. He criticized a lawsuit filed in December by seven US airlines to prevent FAA from implementing proposed new regulations aimed at reducing pilot fatigue.
ALPA further stated that Congress needs to "step in" to legislate "protection" for pilots in "voluntary, nonpunitive safety reporting systems" to ensure that such programs are continued by airlines and not used by carriers against pilots. The union also said that nonpilots with access to freighter aircraft, which do not have the same hardened cockpit door requirements as passenger aircraft, "are not vetted or screened to the level we would like to see," creating too high a possibility that cargo planes could be used as "guided missiles" in a 9/11-style attack.
Prater said Congress needs to pass FAA reauthorization legislation that adequately funds an agency that has a variety of responsibilities. "To this point our government has failed to invest in the aviation infrastructure to the level that is needed," he said. He also called on President Barack Obama to appoint an FAA administrator that "understands the industry. . .There are a lot of different parts to what FAA does. We need an administrator that understands that wide breadth."
ALPA: New fatigue rules, safety reporting 'protection' necessary
Tuesday February 3, 2009 The Air Line Pilots Assn. asked for US FAA to develop more stringent flight- and duty-time rules to prevent pilot fatigue and called on Congress to pass legislation protecting pilots who report safety concerns.
The world's largest pilots' union, comprising 53,000 members in North America, outlined its 2009 agenda at a Washington briefing yesterday, claiming that the US regulatory and legal framework regarding pilots is weak and open to disparate interpretations. It also warned that freighter aircraft are vulnerable to hijackings.
Citing a recent ALPA poll that found 63% of its members had flown fatigued or with a fatigued copilot in the preceding four months, President John Prater said current flight- and duty-time regulations are "a patchwork of rules developed decades ago before the age of jet airliners" and pushed for a "complete overhaul" of rules that he said should be based on a yet-to-be-funded government-sponsored study that would determine scientifically a single, across-the-board standard.
Such a rules modification "is going to require a strong FAA administrator who is willing to regulate rather than reach a consensus with all parties," he said. He criticized a lawsuit filed in December by seven US airlines to prevent FAA from implementing proposed new regulations aimed at reducing pilot fatigue.
ALPA further stated that Congress needs to "step in" to legislate "protection" for pilots in "voluntary, nonpunitive safety reporting systems" to ensure that such programs are continued by airlines and not used by carriers against pilots. The union also said that nonpilots with access to freighter aircraft, which do not have the same hardened cockpit door requirements as passenger aircraft, "are not vetted or screened to the level we would like to see," creating too high a possibility that cargo planes could be used as "guided missiles" in a 9/11-style attack.
Prater said Congress needs to pass FAA reauthorization legislation that adequately funds an agency that has a variety of responsibilities. "To this point our government has failed to invest in the aviation infrastructure to the level that is needed," he said. He also called on President Barack Obama to appoint an FAA administrator that "understands the industry. . .There are a lot of different parts to what FAA does. We need an administrator that understands that wide breadth."
