European Parliament votes in favour of regulating flight times
The European Parliament (EP) has today (9 September) backed a bill to regulate pilots’ flight times, despite objections from the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) and the European Cockpit Association (ECA), among others.
Some of the changes under the new act include:
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flight time duty is cut by 45 minutes to a maximum of 11 hours;
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the limit on total flight time in 12 consecutive months will be reduced from the current 1,300 hours to 1,000; and
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maximum combined duration of airport standby followed by the flight duty will be limited to 16 hours.
European Union (EU) officials insist the new rules will boost safety standards, having previously said that a rejection of the regulation would have negative effects on safety.
However, the ECA has argued that there are safety loopholes within the regulations that will lead to pilots landing aircraft after having been awake for more than 22 hours.
ECA president Nico Voorbach, said: “Today the EP voted for a regulation that is not to the benefit of the flying public in Europe. With this approval the EP took a step away from a ‘precautionary’ approach, ignored scientific expert advice and put passenger safety at risk.”
BALPA has also come out against the new regulation and in a statement today (9 September) called on the Government to “repatriate this rule making from Europe so existing higher UK standards can be maintained and passenger safety better protected”.
Jim McAuslan, BALPA general secretary said: “Pilots are calling on the Government and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to carry out and publish an immediate scientific review of the impact of the botched new EU rules and demand that they are discussed and voted on by UK Ministers in the EU council.”
The CAA has welcomed the decision by the EP, arguing that the EU proposals mean the CAA will have greater fatigue oversight powers, and the airlines will be forced to take greater responsibility for fatigue instead of focusing soley on duty hours.
Chief executive of the CAA Andrew Haines, said: “Pilot fatigue is a real risk in the aviation industry and we take the management of fatigue very seriously.
“Responsibility for managing failure is three-fold: effective regulation, proactive management by airlines and professional behaviour and reporting by pilots. All parties must work together on this to ensure passenger safety remains paramount.”
Speaking of the lack of confidence in the proposed measures, transport and tourism committee chair Brian Simpson said that every single national safety regulator supported the measures.
European Parliament votes in favour of regulating flight times
The European Parliament (EP) has today (9 September) backed a bill to regulate pilots' flight times, despite objections from the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) and the European Cockpit Association (ECA), among others.
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