Ladies and Gentleman,
Its time to act. Go to the CAPA site and write your elected officials, encourage friends, families and others to do the same. The whole process takes less than two minuets as its done electronically for you! Here are the details.
To send a letter to Congress, follow these few simple steps:
1. Go to
Home | Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, click on the "Contact Your Legislators" button on right side of the CAPA Home Page.
2. Under "Current Action Alerts" header, click on "Support These Changes to the FAA's Flight Time/Duty Time NPRM"
3. Enter your zip code in the "Action Alert" box, write your name in the "Your Name" box, enter your sender information below and click "Send Message."
For additional information on this issue, please click on this link "CAPA Flight Time/Duty Time Talking Points"(
Flight Time/Duty Time (FT/DT) CAPA Talking Points | Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations).
Here is the end product if you want to cut and paste and send it the old fashion way and also the way you need to send it to Babbitt.
October 27, 2010
[recipient address was inserted here]
Dear [recipient name was inserted here],
As a US commercial pilot reviewing the FAA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM) on Flight crew member Duty and Rest Requirements I am pleased that
the majority of the NPRM represents an improvement to current regulations
and covers all commercial operations in the spirit of "One Level of
Safety." However, there are some specific items that need to be changed in
order to mitigate fatigue for the professional pilot.
1) The flight time limit should not be increased 25% from 8 hours to
10 hours. 2) The augmented (3 person) flight time limit should not be
increased 25% from 12 to 15 hours. 3) Rest requirements should be 10
hours domestic and 14 hours international. 9 hours, reducible to 8 hours
is not enough time to achieve restorative sleep, eat, and attend to
personal hygiene between duty periods. 4) Domestic augmentation should
not be allowed.
As a professional commercial aviator working at high speed in congested
airspace, and through arduous weather conditions, I can tell you that
fatigue mitigation is paramount to improving the safety of the travelling
public. The NTSB has held fatigue on its "Most Wanted List" for thirty
years because it is a problem that flight crews deal with on a daily
basis. This FAA NPRM will go a long way to reducing fatigue and increasing
safety if these items are addressed.
Sincerely,