Thought some of you would find this interesting.

Pilots: New fatigue rules inadequate - CNN.com

Discuss.. if not already beaten to death.

Great Pic. As I recall the original recipient of the abuse was a printer/fax???

Great movie as well.

Where's my stapler!!!

I was up on Capitol Hill today, meeting with my nephew who works for a Congressman. He gave me a copy of this:

MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON’S CAPTAIN SULLY
SULLENBERGER AND FIRST OFFICER JEFFREY SKILES JOIN CAPTAIN PAUL ONORATO AND THE COALITION OF AIRLINE PILOTS ASSOCIATIONS (CAPA) TO ADDRESS PILOT FATIGUE

Washington DC press conference to address concerns with the recommended Federal Aviation Administration requirements on Flight Time and Duty Time

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Maryanne M. DeMarco
[email protected]
(202) 680-0740

Washington, DC – Flight 1549 “Miracle on the Hudson” pilots Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles will join the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations’ (CAPA) Captain Paul Onorato for a press conference on Capitol Hill to raise public awareness about the safety risks posed by the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed new regulations for pilots’ Flight Time and Duty Time.

Who: Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, First Office Jeffrey Skiles, and Captain
Paul Onorato, President of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations
(CAPA)

What: Pilot fatigue and the new Flight Time/Duty Time regulations

Where/When: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 9:00am
Upper Senate Park (Near Louisiana Avenue, NW) Washington, DC

Currently, the proposed regulations include an increase in allowable flight time and an insufficient increase in rest time – potentially resulting in pilot fatigue that could adversely affect the safety of commercial aviation. As part of the public education efforts around this issue, Captain Sullenberger has teamed with First Officer Skiles and CAPA to create a public awareness campaign for people to submit their comments of concern directly to members of Congress and to the FAA.

“On January 15, 2009, Sully and I had only 208 seconds from the moment we hit the birds to when we put the plane down in the Hudson River,” said First Officer Jeffrey Skiles. “In that compressed time frame, we needed to be well-prepared and well-trained, but also alert and well-rested. It’s absolutely imperative that the FAA’s regulations allow pilots to have
more rest and less time in flight so that future decisions can be made quickly and correctly.”

“Throughout my 20,000 hours of flying time and my decades of flying experience, I have been an advocate for the safety of the flying public and for the airline piloting profession. And while the FAA rulemaking process is supposed to enhance safety and reduce pilot fatigue, the current proposal fails to do either,” said Captain “Sully” Sullenberger. “The safety of the flying public must be our top priority and this FAA proposal does not go far enough to ensure sufficient rest time for pilots. Unbelievably to me, this proposal would also increase – by 25% – the amount of time pilots fly per day. There is no science that shows that flying more will create less fatigue. In fact, it will create more fatigue.”

“The Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations is strongly concerned that the proposed 25% increase in flight time and overall decrease in amount of rest time will have a negative effect on flight safety,” said Captain Paul Onorato, President of CAPA. “I thank Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Skiles for joining our 28,000 pilots to bring this important issue to the national spotlight.”

On Wednesday, November 10, 2010, Captain Sullenberger, First Officer Skiles, and Captain Paul Onorato of CAPA will make a joint statement and answer questions about their concerns with the current proposed regulations concerning Flight Time and Duty Time.

To submit a letter to Congress and the FAA, please click on the following link, under “Action Alerts:” CAPA | The Coalition of Airline Pilots Association

For more information on CAPA’s position on this issue, please visit:
Flight Time/Duty Time (FT/DT) CAPA Talking Points | Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations

About CAPA
CAPA is a trade association representing over 28,000 professional pilots to address safety, security, legislative and regulatory issues affecting the professional flight deck crew member on matters of common interest to the individual member unions. The five members of CAPA include Allied Pilots Association (American Airlines), Independent Pilots Association
(UPS), Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (Southwest Airlines), Teamsters Local 1224 (Horizon Air, Southern Air, ABX Air, Atlas Air, Polar Air Cargo, Atlas Worldwide, Kalitta Air, Cape Air, Miami Air, Gulfstream Air, Omni Air and USA 3000), and US Airline Pilots
Association (US Airways).

For more information and resources, please visit www.capapilots.org

So...we decided to head over and listen. Very interesting. When it was over, I tried to touch base with Sully to say hello as we have a couple of mutual friends, but they were in a time crunch. Staff said they were headed over to meet with the Airline Division Director of the Teamsters and Jim Hoffa.

Nice to know at least Sully, Skiles, CAPA and IBT are on our side on these NPRM's...

Now what is ALPA's stand on this? "It's going to happen anyway, so we may as well get with the program"

Oh wait, that was the last one.

Fraid so and it is beyond ridiculous. I expect it will only get worse with "we know how to work with management Moak" (read we go along with whatever is put in front of us and call it give and take negotiations) at the reigns. Sad, very sad. Good on Sulley, Skiles, CAPA, etc though. I am proud when I read how those guys go to bat for the profession! Sulley doesn't even have much of a vested interest anymore (ie retired) other than to do the right thing. Something the ALPA guys seem to have lost some time ago. Dave Behnke is probably rolling over in his grave right now.

And why are we in ALPA? Maybe CAPA's 28,000 will grow to 40,000 soon! ALPA opened the door when they proposed an increase to 9 flight hours initially. Amazes me everyday that so many people support and defend an organization that doesn't represent us. I appreciate those two and CAPA for fighting hard and taking a stand against this proposal. It is refreshing to see people stand up for what is actually safe.

deleted...why bother?

Couldn't agree more.

Carl

Hi Guys,
GREAT post. I encourage everyone who reads the above post to go to the link, and contact your elected representatives. It takes approximately 90 seconds. Please do this for yourself, if not for your union buds & co-workers. The only way it WON'T get written into law, is if enough pilots let their voice be heard. I'm pretty sure Prater isn't gonna' take the right stance on this, but if the rank-and-file pilots write their representatives....they DO listen. BUT YOU HAVE TO WRITE THEM!!!
Chuck

Chuck you are correct. We will see if this gets done prior to the new President of ALPA taking over.