FAA: Longer Overnight Requirements for International Flying
 

Just thought it was interesting to read if you haven't already seen it:

U.S. to Impose Tougher Rules for Pilot Rest on Long Routes
By ANDY PASZTOR -- WSJ
NOVEMBER 14, 2008

Bucking opposition from U.S. airlines, federal regulators have issued rules aimed at reducing the hazards of pilot fatigue during the longest international flights.

After 18 months of debate between some airline officials and the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency intends to impose tougher crew-rest requirements and other safety measures on flights operated by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. between the U.S. and India. Over time, the rules are designed to apply to all U.S. carriers flying so-called ultra-long-range flights, which can last 16 hours or longer.

The new rules mandate that pilots on the longest routes get at least 40 to 48 hours of rest after arriving, for example, in India from the East Coast of the U.S. Rules now require shorter rests.

Continental and American resisted mandating the longer rest periods. The carriers also objected to other special restrictions involving the training and qualifications of the pilots on board.

Airlines that keep pilots sitting idle for shorter periods at foreign destinations enjoy significant labor-cost savings. But pilot-union leaders and independent safety experts contend the result may be an erosion of safety margins if tired crews have to cope with unusual situations or in-flight emergencies.

The general operating rules issued by the agency recently -- as well as specific rules proposed for individual carriers -- basically track those Delta Airlines Inc. voluntarily agreed to in late 2006. Since then, American and Continental have balked at some elements and tried to persuade the FAA to change them.

Instead, the agency has opted to require enhanced rest periods even when only 10% of the flights on some routes exceed 16 hours.

An American spokesman said Friday that the airline was responding to the latest FAA rules and will have chances to protest some features, but he declined to elaborate or indicate if such moves are likely. Continental didn't have any immediate comment.

Current rules typically allow pilots to be scheduled behind the controls of passenger jets for no longer than eight hours in one workday. Additional pilots are assigned to long flights to relieve members of the crew. But when nonstop flights are scheduled for 16 hours or more, even four-person cockpit crews work beyond that traditional eight-hour limit. Total time on duty under some circumstances can exceed 20 consecutive hours.

According to the FAA, "the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and studies" indicate crew members can have "significant levels of fatigue" toward the end of such unusually long workdays. A document released by the FAA earlier this month reiterated that after an ultra-long range flight, "conservative safety policy" requires that pilots be able to rest for up to 48 hours.

The biggest change from the original rules the FAA negotiated with Delta is the agency's decision to require only one captain as part of a four-person cockpit crew, rather than two captains and two copilots as the FAA mandated in 2006. Both American and Continental argued that crews including a single captain turned out to be adequate throughout their years of flying long, nonstop routes over water or barren regions near the North Pole.

Soon after the FAA and Delta reached an accord on trans-Pacific flights sometimes lasting up to 18 hours, American and Continental sought to tilt the rules in their favor and eventually threatened to challenge the original rules. Later, according to pilots and others familiar with the detail, Delta complained that the FAA wasn't being aggressive enough to impose the same restrictions on rivals.
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This issue is one of those "damned if you do, and damned if you don't" areas. One of the reason a lot of senior pilots bid those longhaul trips is to get the maximum flying done in the least amount of days. Fly 90 hours in 9 days and enjoy the rest of the month off. Looks like the good deal may be over for them. Will be interesting to see how many bid off the longhaul if these new rest rules actually take effect. Adding three or more days to their schedules is not going to make life better for them. Then again, maybe a few more will decide to put in their papers since they'll have to "work" more for less...... ;) Certainly would be nice if they'd give us 48 layovers in SXM after the 3+20 flight down there from EWR..... ;-)

I think that has already happened at DAL to some extent. I'm told by friends some of the 777 types who are stuck with trips that have long layovers are bidding off.

Yep...the article repeated several times that Delta has been voluntarily abiding by these rules already.

Hence the 72 hours in BOM and such....

The FAA is a total loss. They get on stuff like this and yet allow pilots to be on-call 24 hours a day for international trips. Yet, domestic on-call pilots have to have defined rest periods.

Dolts.

Remember that Delta captain about ten years ago who landed an Asia-bound flight somewhere on the West Coast because he said his FO couldn't get required onboard rest using the Rube Goldberg cot contraption? That guy had some balls. Wonder if he got canned.

While he did have to explain himself to management, he was not disciplined in any way.

While the long layover in a crap place is not ideal, with work rules (like most other majors and good regionals) Continental guys could possibly the same days off and not have to slave so hard to do it.

I'm at one of the "good regionals". In fact, we just had to swallow a pay concession and our work rules were not even touched. But there is NOTHING what so ever in our CBA that dictates overnight rest requirements that is more restrictive than the FARs.

The only thing I ever saw was at my previous job, at the time it was one of the "best regionals". The CBA dictated that you couldn't do more than 10 hours duty after a RR overnight.

I was referring to min credit per day, trip rig, duty rig, etc. Talking about getting paid, not rest.

OK, I'll rephrase. I work at one of the best regionals. We just had to take an hourly concession, but our workrules were not even touched. But do to a lack of an an ACTUAL trip/duty rig, we could do 4 day trips, with repeated 10-11 hour overnights, 80+ hours TAFB, and STILL get paid as little as 16 hours for the trip with more sit time than credit. My previous job, that was at the time one of the "best regionals" also had no such provisions for a trip/duty rig, unless it applied to CDO's.

"While he did have to explain himself to management, he was not disciplined in any way."

Yakflyer, do you recall any specifics from that incident that I can use to Google it? Thanks.

I wasn't at Delta at the time, but I read about it in an article in the Wall Street Journal. It would of been 1998 or 1999 I think. It was an MD-11 crew going ATL to I believe Tokyo. The Captain landed in Portland, OR I think.

Maybe other guys can give more details.

Thanks. Got it:

April 15, 1999
Page One Feature
Tired Delta Crew Diverts Flight,
Blames Cramped New Berths
By MARTHA BRANNIGAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


Just how tired were Delta Air Lines Capt. Roscoe McMillan and his crew last Wednesday when he diverted his Atlanta-to-Tokyo flight to Portland, Ore., and called it a day?

Too tired, in his judgment, based on more than 30 years as a Delta pilot, to continue safely with the 14-hour journey to Narita International Airport, according to what the captain told Delta officials. The problem: Two of the other pilots couldn't sleep in the aircraft's controversial new berths, and based on earlier experience, Capt. McMillan figured he couldn't either.

"The captain felt the crew had not had satisfactory rest," says Bill Berry, a Delta spokesman.

An Uncommon Reason

Delta management, however, isn't so sure. Mr. Berry says this is the first time a pilot has diverted a flight because of the new beds, which Delta began installing in December on its long-haul McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. And while flights are sometimes cut short when bad weather or other delays eat up the pilots' legal flying time, Mr. Berry says he is unaware of any diversions caused when a captain pronounced himself or his crew too tired to finish the job.

But Capt. McMillan, who has a perfect flying record and a reputation for being outspoken, has been campaigning against the bunks from the start. In a recent posting on the pilots' union's private Web site, he wrote of the new setup: "I think it stinks."

He isn't a lone crusader. Delta pilots who fly the planes, backed by their union, hate the new type of bunk, which they have dubbed "the coffin." This replaces "the condo," -- pilot parlance for the more comfortable and spacious precursor. Since the switch, union officials say they have received a litany of complaints from MD-11 pilots that the new bunks impair their on-board rest. No other U.S. passenger carrier uses the newer type.

Delta adopted the new berths as part of a redesign of its international service, scrapping First Class and reconfiguring its long-range jets with an upgraded Business Elite class. Among other things, the new bunks allow for more seats, which Delta says will translate into $40 million in additional revenue from the five altered planes over the next five years.

Whatever the beds' benefits, the Air Line Pilots Association has filed a grievance against Delta over them and has lodged a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration that they don't meet federal guidelines. (The FAA hasn't yet ruled on the complaint.)

Delta says that the beds don't pose a safety problem and that it has offered to make substantial changes to address pilots' concerns. Meanwhile, Delta is itself investigating the incident on Flight 55. If the airline determines that it was a union stunt rather than a safety decision, Capt. McMillan, who is 59 years old and is scheduled to retire in 11 months, could be dismissed.

A CEO Out of Sorts

Leo F. Mullin, Delta's chief executive officer, is furious and has registered his displeasure with the union chief. After all, 110 passengers on Flight 55 were inconvenienced for several hours, as were passengers on Flight 51, Portland to Tokyo, which was held up to accommodate the Atlanta passengers.

There's no doubt that the FAA considers tired pilots a safety hazard. Pilots aren't allowed to fly more than eight hours without rest. Sleeping quarters are required on all flights of 12 hours or more, and such flights use double crews so two pilots can fly the plane while two rest.

That was the setup on Flight 55 out of Atlanta on April 7. The crew included Capt. McMillan and his first officer, Randy Young, plus a relief crew, Capt. Bob Pfister and his first officer, Steve Petroski. The jet left the gate at 10:47 a.m. All four men worked the cockpit until the plane reached cruising altitude. Around noon, the two relief pilots slipped back to Business Class to eat and then catch some shut-eye.

Before they could turn in, though, the off-duty pilots had to engage in a process that many pilots complain is humiliating and time consuming: assembling their berths. Located in view of the front passenger cabin, just behind the left front door of the cockpit, the double compartment pulls out like a telescope from a space that once housed a lavatory. Once fully extended and locked in place, the bunks block the left front door of the aircraft -- a concern to some pilots.

The upper bunk stretches 6 feet 11 inches, while the bottom is 6 feet 5 inches. Both are roughly 30 inches wide and are fitted with slim leather mattresses and pillows. Before they can insert themselves into their bunks, the pilots must hang 2-inch-thick noise-deadening drapes that attach to the ceiling and wrap around the unit. The whole process takes as long as 20 minutes.

"It's like the Three Stooges putting up a doll house," says Delta Capt. Bud Musser, chairman of the international safety committee for the pilots' union. "It's free entertainment for Business Class passengers."

Certainly, it's a far cry from the days of "the condo," a comparatively expansive two-bed rectangular unit in the center of the Business Class cabin, 5 feet 1 1/2 inches wide, 6 feet 8 inches long and 6 feet 11 inches high. No assembly required. And pilots could stand inside and put on their pajamas before reclining on comfortable bunks. A light, unavailable in the new bunks, told them when the lavatory was occupied.

On Flight 55, the pilots changed into their sleepwear in the cockpit, stepped into the Business Class cabin, and tucked themselves in. Toilets in the lavatory a few feet away flushed. Bells and alarms from the cockpit throbbed through the less-than-soundproof curtains. A buzzer sounded each time a cockpit door opened. The beverage carts clanged and bumped one end of the unit. After about 2 1/2 hours, the pilots returned to the cockpit and told Capt. McMillan they hadn't gotten any sleep.

Language Barriers

Capt. McMillan, who is a little over 6 feet tall and of medium build and who had flown this route before, was skeptical he would do any better when his break came. By this time, the aircraft was over northern Canada and headed over the North Pole. Capt. McMillan asked whether the crew thought they would be at the top of their game in 10 more hours, when they would be dealing with Russian and Japanese air-traffic controllers whose English isn't always perfect.

That's when Capt. McMillan called a Delta dispatcher to say the crew was too tired to complete the trip and was planning to divert. At first, the puzzled dispatcher misunderstood. Speaking in sky code, he asked the captain if he was being hijacked. Capt. McMillan reiterated that the crew was fatigued.

Capt. McMillan and the dispatcher decided that the plane should land in Portland, where Delta could put the passengers on another flight to Tokyo. Over the loudspeakers, Capt. McMillan broke the news to the 110 passengers, who had completed the first of their journey's three scheduled food-and-beverage services. Because of the "configuration" of the airplane that day, he told them, they were unable to continue to Tokyo.

The plane landed in Portland at 3:26 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, seven hours and 39 minutes after leaving Atlanta. The passengers were directed to Flight 51, held over from its scheduled 1:05 departure. The crew spent the night in a Portland hotel and returned to Atlanta on Thursday.

On Friday, Capt. McMillan and the rest of the crew were summoned to explain the matter to several members of Delta management, including two chief pilots and Capt. Michael J. Quiello, system manager of international operations for Delta.

A 'Premeditated' Act?

After the pilots, who took along a couple of union representatives, told their story, the managers questioned whether Capt. McMillan had "premeditated" his move. That notion could derive from his previous complaints about the beds on the pilots' union's Web site. Of the reverse Narita-to-Atlanta flight, he has written: "This trip snatches the diurnal cycles of the best of us through a knot hole. You are tired anyway, but if you can't sleep on board, then fatigue will paralyze you."

And recounting a colleague's experience on that route, he wrote: "Had I been in charge, had the leg been longer than 12 hours, had weather and possible delays been involved, and had there been a crew member who could not sleep as there obviously was this day, then I would have stopped in Portland or some other place short of the destination."

The union is standing by Capt. McMillan. "He made his decision based on the safety of the flight and the belief that the crew members were not adequately rested," says Karen McGuffey, a union spokeswoman.

Even Delta's Capt. Quiello, who is part of the team scrutinizing the incident, acknowledges that the decision in such situations is ultimately the pilot's. "We trust our captains implicitly," he says, "until we have reason not to."


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URL for this Article:
http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/r...2774505832.djm

I don't suppose the FAA has anything planned for domestic flying?

I've been doing a fair amount of long duty days at my regional carrier lately. And these 13hr duty days starting at 5:30am leave me about as sharp as a butter knife.

Anyone with the name Roscoe is all good in my book. :D

Too bad I put my nametag request in already. :(

New K Now AKA "Roscoe"