EU legislation designed to modernise European standards on aviation safety and clarify the current regulations on flight and duty time limitations (FTL) has been rejected by the EU Parliament Transport Committee.
In 2009, the European Commission tasked the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to work out a possible revision of the current FTL rules in light of the latest scientific and technical evidence, and best practice.
In addition, the Commission asked EASA to clarify the calculation of the maximum daily flight duty, and to fill the gaps left by current rules, mainly concerning in-flight rest and standby.
The five key areas tackled in the new regulation include:
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night time duty: the commission wants to tighten the rules on night-time flight duty to a maximum of 11 hours. The current EU rules set the maximum limit for night duty at 11:45. Currently, no EU Member State has such a restrictive night-time rule in place — the UK comes closest with a limit of 11:15;
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cumulative fatigue: the limit on total flight time in 12 consecutive months will be reduced from the current 1,300 hours to 1,000 and a new prolonged recovery rest period of 48 hours, twice a month, versus the current 36 hours;
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home base: a new requirement that a single airport location must be assigned with a high degree of permanence, and a new and increased extended recovery rest period prior to starting duty after a change of home base;
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standby: maximum combined duration of airport standby followed by the flight duty will be limited to 16 hours. Following which, there has to be a rest period. For home standby, the maximum flight duty limit start counting after six hours of standby, regardless of whether the crew is called up. In this way the combined duration of home stand by followed by flight duty cannot realistically exceed 18 hours; and
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rest: new protected eight-hour sleep opportunity, new increased rest at destination, new additional rest after alternating rotations east-west/west-east, new provisions on minimum rest at home base measured in local nights with a minimum of two local nights after significant (four or more) time zone transitions depending on the number of time zones crossed and the duration of the time spent away.
At the EASA committee, on 11 July, the new Regulation was approved by the majority of Member States, it was then transmitted to the European Parliament and Council for scrutiny.
On 30 September, the Transport Committee voted against the new flight time limitation measures. MEPs rejected the adaptation of current rules on on-duty and rest times for pilots and cabin crew, and asked the Commission to come up with another proposal as a matter of urgency.
The transport committee resolution said that a new proposal must “respect the principle of proportionality”.
President of the European Cockpit Association (ECA), Nico Voorbach, has welcomed the rejection by the Transport Committee. He said: “We welcome the opportunity for a debate the evening before the vote. Perhaps then we can receive the long-waited answers as to why the EU Commission is reluctant to propose science-based flight time rules.”
He added: “Limiting night flights to 10 hours — as scientists have repeatedly recommended — as the safe limit is an absolute must.”
Chair of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), Elisabetta Chicca, said: “Adopting these rules now, knowing that there is little consideration for fatigue as daily concern in cabin crew work onboard of an aircraft, and without a cap of 18 hours in combined standby and flight duty, is not the way forward.”
However, the European Commission argues that if the European Parliament decides to block the draft regulation, it would have negative effects on safety. If the new regulation is not adopted it has argued that safety improvements would be lost:
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night flight duty would go back up to 11:45 instead of 11 (as suggested in the new regulation);
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standby could go back up to 24 hours in some Member States, rather than be limited to six hours;
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the combination of standby at the airport with flight duty will not be capped at 16 hours. It will be 20 or 26 hours, or even without limit in some Member States;
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total fight time in 12 consecutive months will not be limited to 1,000 hours, but 1,300; and
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there will be no increase of the weekly rest by 12 hours twice a month.
Responding to the intensive lobby on this issue, the European Commission said in a memo:
“Some pilots believe they will lose out with the new regulation, in particular those pilots who benefit from the most protective collective agreements, often in traditional airlines. Their belief is unfounded, because the new Regulation will not affect those collective agreements. The most protective rule always applies. Therefore flight crew will not be harmed by the new Regulation.”
In a series of comments added to the European Commission’s press release, the ECA said: “There are some improvements compared to today’s (low-level) rules. The issue is that the overall package contains several significant safety loopholes, which must be closed before the package can be considered safe.”
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One way not to succeed in the world is to let an UNELECTED AND UNACCOUNTABLE EU, decide on matters such as this.
ref aviation it has too may crat rules already.At a time when the travel industry want cheaper flights and less bureaucracy, this is a nation states issue!