FAA Chief to Draft Tougher Rules to Alleviate
 

FAA Chief to Draft Tougher Rules to Alleviate Commuter Pilot Fatigue - WSJ.com

By ANDY PASZTOR and JOSH MITCHELL

The top U.S. air-safety regulator said Monday that within a few months he hopes to draft tougher rules to alleviate fatigue among commuter airline pilots.


The move, and the speedy timetable for implementing it, is an indication that Randy Babbitt, the recently confirmed head of the Federal Aviation Administration, considers commuter pilot fatigue to be among the agency's top safety concerns. Commuter airlines account for more than half of all commercial flights in the U.S. They typically fly under contract from major carriers, ferrying passengers between smaller destinations and larger hubs.
Emerging from an industry-wide summit on commuter airline safety held in Washington, Mr. Babbitt also indicated his agency expects large carriers to provide more guidance and resources to enhance the training and professionalism of pilots at their smaller commuter partners. The closed-door session convened by the FAA was attended by airline executives, pilot union leaders and other industry groups.


Mr. Babbitt's comments indicate the agency is moving more aggressively than many airline officials had expected. The FAA now appears poised to act on more than a decade's worth of sleep research by crafting new standards for tighter limits on flight hours and workdays for commuter crews.


"The bottom line is, I'm going to want a new rule" aimed at combating commuter-pilot fatigue, Mr. Babbitt told reporters. "I'd like to do it in the coming months."


Congressional and public concerns about commuter airline safety have grown since the Feb. 12 crash of a Colgan Air Inc. plane outside Buffalo. Investigators discovered that the captain of the turboprop, flying under contract to serve Continental Airlines Inc., failed a number of flight-proficiency tests in his career. The crash also highlighted questions about adequate crew rest for many commuter pilots.


During Monday's session, Mr. Babbitt was blunt in calling for industry action. According to Mr. Babbitt's prepared remarks during the meting, the FAA chief said: "There's a public perception" that pilots can "repeatedly fail (proficiency tests) and still keep their job." Regardless of the size of the plane or the airline, Mr. Babbitt said, "We want passengers to have no doubts about the qualifications of the person flying their plane," according to an agency transcript.


Pilot union leaders have been prodding the FAA to beef up academic requirements for new commercial pilots, and emphasize additional "mentoring" of such pilots by veteran aviators. After the meeting, Mr. Babbitt said Monday that some mainline carriers tentatively agreed to share facilities and other training resources with commuter airlines, with the goal of ensuring that pilots across the industry meet the same standards.
The FAA has stopped short of agreeing to raise minimum requirements for issuing various licenses to pilots, such as total number of flight hours or time spent behind the controls of multi-engine aircraft. But in many ways, proposed fatigue rules are bound to be more controversial with airlines.

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I guess now it's just a matter of time to see whether this will be a good thing, or something that screws us, and further erodes the job.

I'm really hoping this will also be extended to scheduled 135, not just 121. We need some changes as well.

This could be good for us in more than one way.

1. We actually get reasonable rest requirements.

2. Better rest requirements, and shorter duty days = more pilots, same amount of flying. This may lead to some recalls at the regional level, to cover the flying that would not be covered due to increased rest.

A way I could see it going bad, and how airline will argue against it:

If regionals have to increase staffing levels to comply with increased rest requirements that naturally means that costs go up. If costs go up Mainline will be looking to cut it somewhere... where is the question that scares me.

What you should be hoping is that they leave it alone. I suspect that we will soon see moves to restrict commuting. This will not help but it will make people feel better. Oh well.

Babbitt: We WILL have a new rule.

Pilot Hiring Under Review - CBS News Video

This could be good for a lot of us wanting to go to mainline.

for commuters say goodbye to your cherished days off, this guy is going to have you in domicile 8 hours prior

I've heard that the new fatigue regulation are going to be nothing more than reduced prices on Red Bull.

Well, DUH, if I went through ground school at the NATCO building, I would be much safer than I am now, having been trained at the Pan Am building. And maybe doing sims in the 'Bus would be more beneficial to the pax than training in the a/c I'm actually flying.

Why does he seem set on fixing duty time at the regionals only? Why not fix it for all pilots. The real roadblock to implementation will be the definition of a commuter airline. We all sure can't come close to agreeing on what is a regional, so what makes you think the FAA will do better? And good luck getting a restriction on commuting instituted. To do so would mean our employers would be forced to may moving expenses to every commuting pilot who was hired when commuting was legal and unrestricted. That would be a major change in terms of employment, and against the will of the employee at that. NO airline can afford such a bill in today's economy.