The new regulations regarding pilot fatigue and mandatory rest periods have had a huge impact on the airline industry. After the Colgan accident the FAA finally addressed the growing problem of pilot fatigue and minimal rest periods. The FAA calls for mandatory rest periods between flight duty periods so that flight crews are not operating while they are fatigued. The FAA recognizes the fact that excessive fatigue greatly increases the chance of pilot error, so they passed the new regulations with a goal of limiting the likely hood of that occurring. The new regulations includes:
- Limiting or restricting the maximum Flight Duty Period (FDP),
- Limits the FDP to 8 or 9 hours depending on the time of day.
- 10 hour rest period between duty period.
- Flight crews must notify the air carrier if he/she is not fit for duty.
- Schedules must be 95%consistent with the FDP.
- Part 121 carriers are required to provide annual fatigue related education and training.
Prior to the new regulations, airlines were required to give a minimum of 8 hour rest period between flight duty.
FAA excluded all cargo operations from the regulation because their "compliance cost significantly exceed the quantifiable social benefit" (FAA). Other than the excessive cost of implementing the new rules, I think cargo companies are not included in the new regulations simply because the only people on the plane is the flight crew. Cargo pilots don't have to worry about the safety of passengers their only concern is to bring the plane back in one piece.
I believe that cargo companies should be included in the new rules, simply because they were created to reduce the amount of accidents due to fatigue and inadequate rest. Considering that "more than half of cargo operations are conducted at night" (Lacagnina). Flight crews experience the most fatigue, due to the fact that "daytime sleep is inferior to night time sleep" (Lacagnina).
If cargo companies were included in the new regulations, it wouldn't of changed a thing for me. I plan on flying for one of the gulf carriers after graduation. For most pilots I think that they would of probably considered flying for a cargo company instead of a regional airline. The conditions are rough for first year cargo pilots, so i understand why new pilots prefer the airlines.
Trejos, N. (2014, January 3). New pilot fatigue rules go into effect this weekend. Retrieved October 17, 2015, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2014/01/03/pilot-fatigue-mandatory-rest-new-faa-rules/4304417/
FAA. (n.d.). Flight Crew Duty and Rest Requirement. Retrieved October 19, 2015, from https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published/media/2120-AJ58-FinalRule.pdf
Lacagnina, M. (n.d.). Balancing Cargo Safety. Retrieved October 19, 2015, from http://www.flightsafety.org/asw/nov06/asw_nov06_p28-33.pdf?dl=1
According to the Chief Surgeon of the FAA (James Fraser), he stated that the exemption for cargo carriers is for political reasons, mainly the political contributions that have been paid to the Obama administration ($140 million paid by FedEx and UPS alone).
ReplyDeleteYou’re right that cargo pilots don’t have to worry about the safety of passengers but saying that that is the main reason why they are not included is basically saying that their lives don’t matter as much as others. They should definitely be included because they are at just as high of risk, if not more, of being fatigued.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about how cargo pilots mainly fly at night. And how day sleep is inferior to night sleep. All of these reasons are reasons for cargo carriers to be under the same rules as airline pilots which I also agree with.
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