After seeing the tenative details of this proposal, I think the ATA loves it. Any "improvement" for us is minimal and almost always comes with generous relief anyway. Any improvement for them is generous to the point of being one way.

The only exceptions are how the total package will likely impact the high cycle, fly to the (current) FAR's regional sector. Their costs will rise, and the RAA obviously doesn't like that. However the powerhouse mainlines that really in effect controll the ATA pick up 100% of that cost anyway, one way or another. That is why they have clearly lobbied for acceptable restrictions at the regional level at the direct expense of significant cost savings at the mainline level.

So the regionals will have to hire a few hundred pilots each. Maybe. And that's just the large ones. The smaller ones, that are more likely to be pushing current limits in the first place, like, say, Colgan, will probably have to hire only a hundred or even less. Big whoop. But every legacy can gut tons of international relief FO's from current 3 and 4 pilot crews and current heavy/double crew Caribbean/etc flights can now be done by 2. Mainline pilots cost significantly more than regional pilots to ATA airlines.

10 hour (plus inflight IROPS), 2 pilot ETOPS with 14-15 hour duty days and a rediculous 36 hour "base reset" on the other side of the pond, especially with age 65, is clearly far, far less safe than status quo in those cases. And there will be a lot of those cases. It generally takes a full day of dedicated and diciplined active participant rest to fully shift one's circadian cycle a mere hour or two. 36 hour "base resets" are scientifically proven unsafe, and yet are likely going to be implimented anyway at the ATA's command and with ALPA's indifference/ineffectiveness and as an added bonus, more block hours and no rest breaks. More than enough cases to make up for the Colgans of the world who will have to hire a few more 20K/yr pilots each to cover the new regs.

But yay for the 10 hour local day turn guys though. Other than them, this thing as written is a massive victory for the ATA.