TEAMSTERS LOCAL 1224 POSITION: REGULATORY CHANGE SHOULD ENHANCE SAFETY

Teamsters Local 1224 today reminded the Federal Aviation Administration of the importance of reducing pilot fatigue to enhance safety. The FAA is reviewing recommendations for a new rule from an airline industry stakeholder group.

The Air Transport Association, the Regional Airline Association and the Cargo Airline Association have recently published their collaborative proposal. Two ideas that they proposed to reduce fatigue have created substantial cause for alarm. They include increasing a pilot’s allowable flight time during duty periods and varying restrictions based on an aircraft’s configuration – that is, cargo verses passenger.

“The science of human physiology was a primary factor in the Aviation Rulemaking Committee’s (ARC) determination of how many hours a pilot should fly,” said Teamsters Local 1224 Director of Safety Russ Leighton, a participant in the committee.

“There is no evidence that would support treating a pilot differently based upon an aircraft’s configuration,” Leighton said. “There also is no science to suggest that flying more hours in a duty period would somehow be a fatigue-mitigating, safety enhancement. Yet, these unsafe concepts were in the proposal that industry stakeholders improperly leaked to the public last week. We believe the FAA can only achieve an elevated level of safety by mitigating pilot fatigue, and that would include regulations that do not increase a pilot’s time on task.”

The FAA convened an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) in July comprised of labor, industry and government representatives and asked the participants to conduct a comprehensive review of current flight-time and duty-time regulations. Personal experience of professional aviators, statistical fatigue science and a review of other nations’ approaches to the issue are all factors on which the ARC based its recommendations.

“We were aghast when we learned that these industry groups had the audacity to propose increasing flight time as a way to reduce fatigue in the wake of the Colgan crash,” said Local 1224 President Joe Muckle. “The sole purpose in evaluating the current regulations was to create a positive impact on safety. Giving consideration to Administrator Babbitt’s long-held ‘One Level of Safety’ concept, we urge policymakers not to sacrifice safety by allowing an increase in flight duty to passenger or cargo carriers as they complete extended flight over our cities, while fatigued, in overcrowded skies.”

Studies have shown that pilot fatigue is increasingly cited as a factor in aircraft accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board has repeatedly warned of the dangers of pilot fatigue. Reducing accidents and incidents caused by pilot fatigue is one of the priorities on the NTSB’s list of transportation safety improvements.
The current consideration of an increase in the amount of time pilots are scheduled to fly in a duty day will have an adverse impact on aviation safety, only amplifying pilot fatigue. Well-rested and properly trained pilots are the cornerstone of every flight, as pilot decisions leaves no room for error.

Numerous demands encompassed in airline pilot duties contribute to the fatigue factor. As noted in a statement made by the Allied Pilots Association, “These demands include circadian rhythm disruption and back-side-of-the-clock operations; dealing with high-traffic environments, mountainous terrain and inclement weather; communicating with foreign air traffic controllers with limited English-speaking skills; and pressurized, re-circulated cabin air… and pilots’ limited control over their schedules for meals, rest breaks, bathroom usage and other basic physiological functions.”

In early September Local 1224 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division endorsed HR 3371, legislation sponsored by House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello, D-Ill., to improve requirements for pilot hiring, training and duty time. Policymakers are reviewing the ARC recommendations as they contemplate revisions to or adoption of the proposed legislation.

The Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224, represents nearly 2000 air cargo pilots of ABX Air, Atlas Air Worldwide, Polar Air Cargo and Kalitta Air. Local 1224 is an International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) affiliate; the IBT represents more than 1.4 million members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.