USAPA

To combat in-flight accidents caused by weary pilots, the FAA, pilot unions and the airlines had agreed to form an Aviation Rule Committee, which produced new guidelines covering topics including the number of hours pilots can fly in a given period and mandated rest time. According to USAPA, the committee asked for input from the labor force and airline management, but didn’t consider input from the academic world. This extra perspective would have brought a much-needed measure of scientific evaluation to the proceedings.

The pilots recently told a US House of Representatives subcommittee that the new guidelines, instead of producing a solution, would contribute to the problem of over-worked pilots.

"The proposed new rule allows airline managements to schedule crews for 25 percent more flight time in a day and for 60 percent more flight time in a week,” Mike Cleary, president of the association, said in a statement. “It simply defies common sense that, in the wake of a multitude of accidents where fatigue was a contributing factor, the FAA’s solution to reducing fatigue is to have pilots fly more hours in a given period of time.”

Cleary allowed that the proposed rules also have some positive aspects, but insisted that the findings need to be re-evaluated.

"We look forward to working with the FAA and legislators to create a rule that will genuinely fight fatigue and promote an increase in safety in air carrier transport,” Cleary said. “We are certainly not there yet.”