Plane Conversations

We recently posted an article on the new pilot duty rules that will address pilot fatigue issues. Hopefully, the Obama administration will take the politics out of it and focus purely on safety. That remains to be seen as they have involved the Presidents Office of Management and Budgeting in the process which, in my opinion, should be left up to the safety and flight operations experts in the industry and the FAA.  

I asked our Director of Fight Operations, Dwayne McMurry, to weigh in on the subject. He has been a pilot operating under Far 135 (Air Charter Rules) for 25 plus years and has served in a management capacity for FAR 135 operations with our company for close to 20 years. Dwayne holds an ATP with 8000 plus flight hours and type ratings in Learjet, Lear 45, Cessna 650 and 525, and Beechcraft BE300.  He continues to fly as a Captain and manages the flight operations for our company; so, he has perspective from both management and pilot viewpoints.

Here are Dwayne’s thoughts about the issue of duty time and pilot fatigue:

For the most part, regulations today only regulate what a flight crewmember does while on duty.  Rules for drug and alcohol use are in place regulating one’s actions outside of a duty period; so, they ultimately affect the periods during company duty assignments.  To my knowledge, there is no pre departure test that can be administered that indicates the level of rest a pilot has received.  

No set of regulations will ever eliminate fatigue in the cockpit.  Mitigation of fatigue starts with the pilot.  This should be complemented by a set of reasonable regulations.   A pilot should be professional and understand that he/she must present themselves well-rested, ready and able to perform all duties associated with fight, in both mind and body.  Does this mean commuting across the nation within 24 hours of a flight should be prohibited?   Maybe; maybe not.  What is the difference between commuting across the country, then reporting to work, or returning home on a flight across the country from a vacation and reporting to work the next morning for a flight?  It’s not about the commute.  It’s about the rest needed before flight. 

Then the big question becomes: what is rest?  Time away from the job is not necessarily rest.  I’ve heard more than one person say they had to come back to work after a vacation in order to get some rest.

Commuting … There are several stresses involved when a pilot commutes to work.  The pilots that commute know all too well that the airlines they fly are sometimes unreliable.  They are often late, sometimes flights are canceled, and, quite frequently, they are full or overbooked.  A pilot riding Space Available is typically placed in a state of stress hours if not days before ever reporting to work.   What time do I have to leave to catch a flight in order to make it to work and how soon before I have to fly will I arrive?  Can I get on a particular flight; will it be on time?  What if I can’t get on the flight; is there an alternate flight I can take?  What do I do if all my plans fail?  These are all questions that may go through the mind of a commuting pilot.  Needless to say, if he doesn’t make it to work, his job may be on the line.  A pilot may leave early enough, even a day before he/she is scheduled to fly, but by doing so could bring on stress because of the added burden placed on him/her by their spouse because they aren’t home.  It all adds up. And may I add that this will only get more stressful as airline load factors rise with the reduction in capacity of the system. When load factors exceed 80% the reliability of getting to work on your own airline is going to become increasingly risky.

The crutches we lean on ….I’ve heard several comments lately from other flight crewmembers as to how they combat fatigue.  Snacking, energy drinks, coffee, naps haveall been suggested to combat fatigue during a flight or a series of flights.  These really don’t combat fatigue; they simply mask it.  Before the flight, plenty of rest and nutritious food seem to be a reasonable preventative measure for fatigue.  Another crutch seldom mentioned is technology.  In today’s modern aircraft, the technology we have at our disposal relieves the fatigue of having to hand fly the aircraft, shoot instrument approaches, calculate performance, diagnose and solve system malfunctions.  We have more information at our disposal in the way of weather reporting, airport information, communications and automated aircraft systems monitoring than ever before.  When used properly, it all reduces fatigue during flight. 

Some of the things CFM does to mitigate fatigue ….We require our pilots to live within 45 minutes of the airport.  Fatigue from commuting is not an issue with us.  We fly 99% of all our operations with two crewmembers.  This reduces the workload associated with a flight, thus reducing fatigue.  We plan all our trips to begin and end within a 14-hour period.  We are realistic in our scheduling.  We consider that a pilot who has been on duty from 10 pm to 6 am may not be rested and ready to report for duty at 4pm that day even though he/she is legal to do so.  We provide day rooms for our crews during long days.  We provide a full staff of personnel including maintenance, dispatch and management, which are available to the pilot anytime to assist in the decision making process.  We are aware that major life changes such as the birth of a child have an effect on a crewmember’s performance,;so, we try to be flexible when it comes to these events with time off.  Ultimately, we give the pilot the final say in determining whether he/she is rested and ready to fly, even when the regulations say they are legal to fly. 

I appreciate Dwayne’s input from a professional pilot and flight department manager’s perspective.  

As I have stated in previous posts, I am a free market capitalist and believe the government needs to stay out of the way in most areas of business such as legislating whether you can charge for carry on bags. That is a market issue that needs to be left up to the airlines and their customers. Nobody gets hurt if Spirit Airlines charges a fee for carry on baggage.  However, when it comes to regulations of our industry that center on safety, the government needs to provide well thought out regulations that are evenly enforced across the industry. We are operating on a 60-year-old set of rules that are vague in their wording and no longer adequately address safety and the issue of pilot fatigue. The technology and capabilities of today’s aircraft and the air transportation system make this a new day and the new day needs a new and better set of rules. The pilots and traveling public deserve no less.   

What do you have to say about this?

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Andy Paztor of the Wall Street Journal in an April 22 Article writes:

“Reducing pilot fatigue is a top priority for U.S. airline regulators. But new rules are being delayed by disagreements within the Obama administration over whether the anticipated safety improvements would justify the cost to airlines.

When U.S. Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt last summer launched a drive to update decades-old rules covering how many hours a day U.S. airline pilots can fly or remain on duty, the agency hoped to release draft regulations by early 2010.

That date later slipped by several months, but Mr. Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood continued to say that keeping sleepy pilots away from the controls was essential. With Congress also prodding the FAA to move quickly, they talked about expedited White House review of regulatory changes.

Now, according to industry and government officials, the proposed changes are snagged by a dispute between the FAA and the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Budget officials have informally told the FAA that the proposal’s projected cost to airlines wasn’t justified by the anticipated safety benefits, according to people familiar with the details. As a result, there could be further delays in agreeing on a package.

The FAA’s proposals could cost carriers billions of extra dollars through the next decade. But if the agency scales back the proposal to reduce likely costs, FAA and outside experts fear it would undercut basic safety goals. If that happens, some pilots’ unions have threatened to oppose the entire package.”

I find it interesting that the administration is suddenly concerned about the cost of the new duty rules and the White House OMB is now in the decision tree for rules that affect the safety of flight for airlines.

What expertise does the OMB have in areas of safety?  

The committee formed by the FAA to come up with a new rule set was comprised of FAA, labor union representatives and industry representatives including experts in the areas of safety and fatigue. It would seem that this group would have a better grasp of the issues at hand than the OMB would.

I guess the concern is that this will cost the airlines billions. But what we all know is that the cost will be passed on to the traveling public, anyway.  We need to be prepared to pay more money to fly if we want to keep it safe. The public needs to get used to the idea that maybe it is worth a few more dollars per ticket to have a safe crew up front guiding the aircraft they are riding on.   

The current rules for crew duty time have been in place since the 1940s when aircraft could not fly the distances they fly today. The airlines of the 40s were not the same airlines we fly on today.  One would hope that we have learned a few things about safety, not just with aircraft design, but also with the human factors involved in flight.

Originally the FAA was prepared to issue a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) this month; but, now, that has been pushed out to this Fall. I wonder how long this will drag out as the wheels of bureaucracy grind?  

Is Safety on Hold?  

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