Commutes will evade FAA scrutiny
12-02-2009, 10:51 AM
#1
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Commutes will evade FAA scrutiny
I subscribe to a safety blog that summarizes articles from various sources. The following article was in today's blog:
Commutes unlikely to be addressed in new rules on pilot fatigue
Lawmakers say the long distances flown just for pilots to get to work are contributing to the problem, but the FAA said there is no plan to make policy changes.
Reporting from Washington - The Federal Aviation Administration will announce new rules on pilot fatigue in January, but they probably will not include restrictions on long-distance commutes that lawmakers said Tuesday are essential to solving the problem.
The crash of a regional Colgan Air flight in Buffalo that killed 50 people in February highlighted the need for federal rules limiting the distance pilots often have to fly to begin their workday, said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who heads the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's aviation panel.
One pilot traveled from Seattle to Newark, N.J., before the Buffalo flight, the other from Tampa, Fla. Both died in the crash.
"You've got people whose work station is on the East Coast, flying from all over the country just to go to work," Dorgan said at a hearing Tuesday. "I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't commute. I am suggesting that if you're going to have this kind of substantial commuting, you better understand that you're going to have some problems."
Ice buildup on the plane and lack of pilot experience also may have been factors in the Buffalo crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating.
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) called pilot commuting "an issue that deserves immediate concern" and at the hearing urged Margaret Gilligan, the FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety, to consider long-distance commutes a contributing factor to the overall problem of pilot fatigue.
Gilligan said the FAA's rule-making committee, which worked from July to September this year developing recommendations for the agency based on science and international standards, did not recommend any changes to current airline commuting policies. So far, the FAA continues "to see that as a pilot responsibility," Gilligan said, though the administration is "considering additional elements" to the upcoming rules.
The rule-making committee, composed of 18 labor, industry and FAA representatives, delivered its final report to the FAA on Sept. 10.
Joe Williams, a spokesman for Pinnacle Airlines, which owns Colgan Air, said the company respects the right of pilots to live where they choose. "Where would you draw the line?" he asked.
Industry and labor representatives brought up similar points in questioning the government's possible intervention.
"It's a crew member's responsibility to be rested and prepared," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn. of America, the nation's largest airline trade group.
Capt. John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Assn., the leading pilot union in North America, said in an interview after the hearing that the instability of the regional airline business contributes to pilots suddenly finding themselves with commutes of hundreds of miles because their airline has lost or gained a contract with a larger airline.
Prater, a pilot who lives in southern Illinois, has had to commute as far as Guam, in the western Pacific Ocean, to get to work.
Still, he disagrees that the problem is as bad as lawmakers say, and said he believes businesses and unions should come together to make sure pilots are properly rested and fliers remain safe.
"I have serious doubt that this is an issue for the regulators," Prater said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-pilot-fatigue2-2009dec02,0,7674763.story
Commutes unlikely to be addressed in new rules on pilot fatigue
Lawmakers say the long distances flown just for pilots to get to work are contributing to the problem, but the FAA said there is no plan to make policy changes.
Reporting from Washington - The Federal Aviation Administration will announce new rules on pilot fatigue in January, but they probably will not include restrictions on long-distance commutes that lawmakers said Tuesday are essential to solving the problem.
The crash of a regional Colgan Air flight in Buffalo that killed 50 people in February highlighted the need for federal rules limiting the distance pilots often have to fly to begin their workday, said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who heads the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's aviation panel.
One pilot traveled from Seattle to Newark, N.J., before the Buffalo flight, the other from Tampa, Fla. Both died in the crash.
"You've got people whose work station is on the East Coast, flying from all over the country just to go to work," Dorgan said at a hearing Tuesday. "I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't commute. I am suggesting that if you're going to have this kind of substantial commuting, you better understand that you're going to have some problems."
Ice buildup on the plane and lack of pilot experience also may have been factors in the Buffalo crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating.
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) called pilot commuting "an issue that deserves immediate concern" and at the hearing urged Margaret Gilligan, the FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety, to consider long-distance commutes a contributing factor to the overall problem of pilot fatigue.
Gilligan said the FAA's rule-making committee, which worked from July to September this year developing recommendations for the agency based on science and international standards, did not recommend any changes to current airline commuting policies. So far, the FAA continues "to see that as a pilot responsibility," Gilligan said, though the administration is "considering additional elements" to the upcoming rules.
The rule-making committee, composed of 18 labor, industry and FAA representatives, delivered its final report to the FAA on Sept. 10.
Joe Williams, a spokesman for Pinnacle Airlines, which owns Colgan Air, said the company respects the right of pilots to live where they choose. "Where would you draw the line?" he asked.
Industry and labor representatives brought up similar points in questioning the government's possible intervention.
"It's a crew member's responsibility to be rested and prepared," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn. of America, the nation's largest airline trade group.
Capt. John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Assn., the leading pilot union in North America, said in an interview after the hearing that the instability of the regional airline business contributes to pilots suddenly finding themselves with commutes of hundreds of miles because their airline has lost or gained a contract with a larger airline.
Prater, a pilot who lives in southern Illinois, has had to commute as far as Guam, in the western Pacific Ocean, to get to work.
Still, he disagrees that the problem is as bad as lawmakers say, and said he believes businesses and unions should come together to make sure pilots are properly rested and fliers remain safe.
"I have serious doubt that this is an issue for the regulators," Prater said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-pilot-fatigue2-2009dec02,0,7674763.story
12-02-2009, 01:42 PM
#3
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For once, the infamous Air Transport Association's opinion is in line with working pilots. However, I'm sure it is not borne of concern for our well being. There's probably a profit component involved for its member airlines.
12-02-2009, 01:45 PM
#4
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On the one hand, this is - and probably always will be - "our problem": we are responsible for being at the originating station on time and *rested* and it's not considered duty time, even if we are coming to EWR from SEA.
On the other hand, like Prater said, a little stability would go a LONG way in the preventing-long-commutes arena...
On the other hand, like Prater said, a little stability would go a LONG way in the preventing-long-commutes arena...
12-02-2009, 01:51 PM
#5
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New pilot fatigue rule faces delay, FAA says
Senator responds angrily in hearing
by Jerry Zremski
News Washington Bureau Chief
December 02, 2009, 12:17 AM / 0 comments
WASHINGTON — A new federal proposal for combating pilot fatigue may still allow pilots to commute on red-eye flights the night before going to work — just as the co-pilot of the doomed Continental Connection Flight 3407 did.
And release of that pilot fatigue proposal, which originally was set to take place by the end of this year, has been pushed back to early 2010.
The Federal Aviation Administration's top safety official revealed those details of the agency's anti-fatigue effort at a Senate hearing Tuesday.
And the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees aviation safety was enraged to hear that the agency wasn't moving more quickly and decisively in response to the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence Center in February, which claimed 50 lives.
"What I don't quite understand is that when we finish this whole process, nothing will have changed with respect to the circumstances that existed in that cockpit regarding fatigue," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D.
Noting that both the pilot and co-pilot of Flight 3407 commuted to their Newark duty station from thousands of miles away shortly before boarding Flight 3407, Dorgan said pilot fatigue likely played a key role in the crash.
Once the new federal pilot fatigue rules are in place, "I don't think we will have altered the circumstances" that allowed the Flight 3407 pilot to commute to Newark from his Florida home and the co-pilot to fly in from Seattle, Dorgan said. "Somehow, I think we must."
The FAA official who testified at the hearing, Associate Administrator Peggy Gilligan, acknowledged that pilot commuting could create a risk that pilots will arrive on the job tired.
"Whether we address it in the rule itself or in guidance and training materials for the pilots at the airlines ... we agree with you that it is a risk factor that must be addressed," Gilligan said.
However, the committee that began drawing up the new fatigue rules earlier this year did not recommend any new controls on pilot commuting.
"They recommended that we continue to view that as a pilot responsibility," she said.
FAA officials are at work now to figure out if the issue should be addressed in the new rules, but other witnesses said that may not be easy.
"What we have here is a problem, but it's a difficult problem to address in a regulatory format," said William R. Voss, president and chief executive officer of the Flight Safety Foundation.
Pilots largely oppose any new controls on commuting because that could limit where they could live, but that's not simply a matter of lifestyle choice, said Capt. John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association.
"I know pilots who have had five base changes in one year," Prater said. "You just can't move."
Besides, he stressed that commuting is just one facet of the fatigue issue.
The co-pilot of Flight 3407, Rebecca L. Shaw, flew from Seattle to Newark as a passenger on other flights, but under current federal rules, "she could have flown those flights as a pilot the night before and then been able to fly that flight to Buffalo," Prater said.
That's because the U.S. rules governing pilot flight time and duty time are grossly out of step with the rules set by other countries, which base their rules on scientific research into rest and fatigue.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been pushing for new fatigue guidelines as one of its "most wanted" recommendations for nearly 20 years, and more than 200 people have died in flights where fatigue played a role in that time period, Dorgan noted.
"It's essential" that the rules be modernized, said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. "This has languished for more than half a century."
Yet the proposed new rules won't be ready as promised by the end of this year, Gilligan acknowledged.
Drawing up the new rules is "a difficult and complicated effort" that is taking longer than expected, she said.
The FAA now expects to complete a proposal by the end of January, although other agencies then may take months to review it.
Gilligan offered a few hints at what that rule might look like.
For one thing, she said, the agency is likely to reject one of the airline industry's suggested methods for preventing pilot fatigue: "controlled napping."
"Previous NASA research provides overwhelming evidence that controlled napping significantly mitigates fatigue risk," said Basil J. Barimo, vice president of operations and safety at the Air Transport Association.
Nevertheless, Gilligan said: "I don't expect we will be proposing that." She also said the FAA will offer one framework for all airlines to follow regarding pilot fatigue, even though the industry suggested tailoring the rules to different flying environments.
Senator responds angrily in hearing
by Jerry Zremski
News Washington Bureau Chief
December 02, 2009, 12:17 AM / 0 comments
WASHINGTON — A new federal proposal for combating pilot fatigue may still allow pilots to commute on red-eye flights the night before going to work — just as the co-pilot of the doomed Continental Connection Flight 3407 did.
And release of that pilot fatigue proposal, which originally was set to take place by the end of this year, has been pushed back to early 2010.
The Federal Aviation Administration's top safety official revealed those details of the agency's anti-fatigue effort at a Senate hearing Tuesday.
And the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees aviation safety was enraged to hear that the agency wasn't moving more quickly and decisively in response to the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence Center in February, which claimed 50 lives.
"What I don't quite understand is that when we finish this whole process, nothing will have changed with respect to the circumstances that existed in that cockpit regarding fatigue," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D.
Noting that both the pilot and co-pilot of Flight 3407 commuted to their Newark duty station from thousands of miles away shortly before boarding Flight 3407, Dorgan said pilot fatigue likely played a key role in the crash.
Once the new federal pilot fatigue rules are in place, "I don't think we will have altered the circumstances" that allowed the Flight 3407 pilot to commute to Newark from his Florida home and the co-pilot to fly in from Seattle, Dorgan said. "Somehow, I think we must."
The FAA official who testified at the hearing, Associate Administrator Peggy Gilligan, acknowledged that pilot commuting could create a risk that pilots will arrive on the job tired.
"Whether we address it in the rule itself or in guidance and training materials for the pilots at the airlines ... we agree with you that it is a risk factor that must be addressed," Gilligan said.
However, the committee that began drawing up the new fatigue rules earlier this year did not recommend any new controls on pilot commuting.
"They recommended that we continue to view that as a pilot responsibility," she said.
FAA officials are at work now to figure out if the issue should be addressed in the new rules, but other witnesses said that may not be easy.
"What we have here is a problem, but it's a difficult problem to address in a regulatory format," said William R. Voss, president and chief executive officer of the Flight Safety Foundation.
Pilots largely oppose any new controls on commuting because that could limit where they could live, but that's not simply a matter of lifestyle choice, said Capt. John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association.
"I know pilots who have had five base changes in one year," Prater said. "You just can't move."
Besides, he stressed that commuting is just one facet of the fatigue issue.
The co-pilot of Flight 3407, Rebecca L. Shaw, flew from Seattle to Newark as a passenger on other flights, but under current federal rules, "she could have flown those flights as a pilot the night before and then been able to fly that flight to Buffalo," Prater said.
That's because the U.S. rules governing pilot flight time and duty time are grossly out of step with the rules set by other countries, which base their rules on scientific research into rest and fatigue.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been pushing for new fatigue guidelines as one of its "most wanted" recommendations for nearly 20 years, and more than 200 people have died in flights where fatigue played a role in that time period, Dorgan noted.
"It's essential" that the rules be modernized, said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. "This has languished for more than half a century."
Yet the proposed new rules won't be ready as promised by the end of this year, Gilligan acknowledged.
Drawing up the new rules is "a difficult and complicated effort" that is taking longer than expected, she said.
The FAA now expects to complete a proposal by the end of January, although other agencies then may take months to review it.
Gilligan offered a few hints at what that rule might look like.
For one thing, she said, the agency is likely to reject one of the airline industry's suggested methods for preventing pilot fatigue: "controlled napping."
"Previous NASA research provides overwhelming evidence that controlled napping significantly mitigates fatigue risk," said Basil J. Barimo, vice president of operations and safety at the Air Transport Association.
Nevertheless, Gilligan said: "I don't expect we will be proposing that." She also said the FAA will offer one framework for all airlines to follow regarding pilot fatigue, even though the industry suggested tailoring the rules to different flying environments.
12-02-2009, 04:33 PM
#6
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You seem to be saying that since the FAA won't do anything about commuting, commuters will be OK. Well, time to consider a wild card in all of this. The FAA had n o problem with age 60, but congress did and they made it age 65. Congress, while not understanding this anymore than they understand a myriad of other things that they stick there nose into, could step in with some last minute regulations.
12-02-2009, 04:47 PM
#7
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Posts: 2,382
Originally Posted by 767pilot
You seem to be saying that since the FAA won't do anything about commuting, commuters will be OK. Well, time to consider a wild card in all of this. The FAA had n o problem with age 60, but congress did and they made it age 65. Congress, while not understanding this anymore than they understand a myriad of other things that they stick there nose into, could step in with some last minute regulations.
All the rhetoric indicated the age 65 change would be a 1-2 year process as it made its way through the NPRM process. It would be vetted and would be a work in progress with a smooth transition.
Then the REAL lawmakers in DC stepped in ... and we know the rest.
12-02-2009, 05:20 PM
#8
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Posts: 72
Do we need more Fed regulation?
Maybe the FAA or Congress could legislate that we go potty within 30 minutes of departure time? How about we as pilots try to be professional? If you choose to live all the way across the country, then professionalism requires that you show up properly rested for your flight. Why would we need some FAA regulation/enforcement to make us be professional.
Sad state of affairs for aviation.
Sad state of affairs for aviation.
12-02-2009, 06:11 PM
#10
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Position: Retired
Posts: 3,717
Originally Posted by rev63
Maybe the FAA or Congress could legislate that we go potty within 30 minutes of departure time? How about we as pilots try to be professional? If you choose to live all the way across the country, then professionalism requires that you show up properly rested for your flight. Why would we need some FAA regulation/enforcement to make us be professional.
Sad state of affairs for aviation.
Sad state of affairs for aviation.
JJ
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