ALPA Attacks Pilot Fatigue

Air Safety Week, Oct 15, 2007

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has formed a Fatigue Blue Ribbon Panel to review the science and economics surrounding pilot fatigue as well as the flight/duty regulations in both Canada and the United States. The expert panel will recommend actions for ALPA to pursue to address safety concerns.

"Pilots are routinely pushed into sacrificing needed rest to help their companies survive during economic downturns and bankruptcy," said ALPA President Capt. John Prater. "Corporate profits have returned, and revenues have increased. The airlines can no longer plead poverty when it comes to safety. It's well past time to take on the issue of pilot fatigue."

Prater said "fatigue has been a growing problem within the entire transportation industry for some time, but it has now reached an alarming level for pilots."

ALPA created a Pilot Fatigue Task Force in 2006 to examine scientific studies on fatigue, existing regulations, and changes that had occurred as a result of air carrier bankruptcies and restructuring.

Based on this research, the group recommended a three-prong approach to mitigating pilot fatigue: urge Transport Canada and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to revise flight- and duty-time regulations; improve work rules through the collective bargaining process; and. develop an information campaign to provide pilots with fatigue mitigation strategies on the job.

That research will form the foundation of ALPA's Fatigue Blue Ribbon Panel. ALPA Vice-President-Finance/Treasurer, Capt. Chris Beebe will chair the Panel. Panel members include Capt. Don Wykoff (Delta), chairman, Flight & Duty Time Committee; Capt. Terry McVenes (US Airways), Executive Air Safety Chairman; Capt. James Foster (ExpressJet), Aeromedical Committee chairman; and Capt. Martin Gauthier (Air Transat) from ALPA's Canada Board. A representative of ALPA's Collective Bargaining Committee will also be appointed.

"The Fatigue Blue Ribbon Panel members bring a wealth of expertise and experience to this complex issue," said Beebe. "We need to look at fatigue from every possible angle, and this is exactly the group of individuals who can accomplish our goals."

The Panel will analyze current domestic, international, and cargo operations; review the latest science on fatigue; compare U.S. and Canadian regulations with those of Europe and Asia; and perform an economic analysis of how any change to the current situation would affect airline staffing requirements.

The Panel will develop specific proposals to mitigate pilot fatigue, including regulatory, legislative, and communications initiatives. The group is expected to present its final report and recommendations to the ALPA Executive Board in May 2008.

Fatigue has been on the National Transportation Board's 'Most Wanted' list since 1990. NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker says the problem is "widespread" and that "the laws, rules and regulations governing this aspect of transportation safety are archaic in many cases."

Rosenker said the Safety Board 13 years ago urged the FAA to close a "loophole" in the regulations regarding duty hours that allow flight crews to be on duty for much longer periods of time than allowed under Part 121 or Part 135. "The Safety Board's concern that flight crew fatigue is a significant aviation safety issue continues today, yet little or no action has been taken by the FAA and they have not indicated any firm plans to take any action."

The FAA says the rules on pilot flight time and rest have evolved along with advances in commercial air travel. "Research tells us that this issue does not easily lend itself to a set of prescriptive rules."

Recently, FAA officials gave Delta Airlines permission to conduct 16-hour flights from New York to India. "This approval was our first implementation of a fatigue risk management approach. Delta proposed---and we approved---a detailed plan to assure the crew is rested before the flight begins, is provided appropriate rest throughout the flight, and have sufficient rest before conducting the return flight," the aviation agency officials noted. "This is an example of where we need to move in the future---away from prescriptive rules and into fatigue risk management."

Prater said "fatigue is one of the most pressing issues in the aviation industry today. Simply put, pilots are tired, and the FAA must modernize flight- time and duty-time regulations and rest requirements to ensure the safety of the traveling public."

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