New Flight Duty Proposals Will Set Clear European Aviation Safety Rules

Doha, January 20 (QNA) - New standardized Flight and Duty Time Limitation (FTL) rules by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will for the first time set out clear rules that will apply in all European Union member states, a senior official of the safety agency has said. EASA Head of Flight Standards Jean Marc Cluzeau said, "The existing rules (known as Subpart Q in aviation circles) has left a number of issues to national rules and therefore does not provide a level-playing field. The new harmonised EASA FTL rules will, for the first time, offer a set of coherent rules." EASA Executive Director Patrick Goudou, in an editorial published by the agency's magazine says, "Human performance is a key paradigm in aviation safety today, and fatigue is one of the main factors affecting human performance. It is crucial that safety regulations provide both flight and cabin crew with the best possible conditions to ensure they remain alert during all phases of the flight." Earlier this week, on January 18, the EASA published the Comment Response Document (CRD) on implementing rules on FTL rest requirements for commercial air transport with aeroplanes. The Agency issued a first proposal in the form of a Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) in December 2010 (NPA 2010-14) and received comments from a large number of stakeholders during the three month consultation phase which followed. This CRD contains an updated set of FTL rules, which reflects the comments received and the extensive discussions that took place within the FTL expert group set up by the EASA. This review group consisted of representatives from operators, national authorities and crew organisations. This CRD contains a summary of all comments received and also provides a link to all comments that have been submitted via the Agency's Comment Response Tool (CRT). This CRT is available for further comment by all interested stakeholders until March 18, 2012. Speaking about the improvement on CRD over the existing rules (Subpart Q), Cluzeau said, "The bulk of the proposal consists in regulating areas that were not yet covered by Subpart Q, such as augmented crew, standby, split duty and reduced rest. Some safety improvements to Subpart Q were also identified thanks to the review of a number of scientific publications, and the additional contribution of three independent scientists." Some proposals urge reduction of the maximum allowable Flight Duty Period (FDP) at the most unfavourable starting times, the increase of the minimum rest for disruptive operations (including, early starts, late finishes and night duties) and a far more comprehensive set of rules addressing the effect of significant time zone crossing, he said. Commenting on the Agency's justification of 14-hour Flight Duty Period (FDP) in comparison of the maximum of nine-hour driving limit for European lorry drivers, Cluzeau said, "Such a comparison does not make sense. The operational cockpit/cabin environment fundamentally differs from the truck driver's. Scientists generally agree that a 14-hour FDP at the more favourable time of the day is safe if the crew is well rested: this is the reason why our proposal places emphasis on robust rest requirements." The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently published its final pilot fatigue rule, allowing a maximum of nine hours of FDP at night while the EASA proposal would allow 11 hours. Commenting on the difference in fatigue allowance between US and European proposal, he said, "We have been in contact with our FAA colleagues during the development of our respective proposals. Both proposals are based on scientific data, but the approaches differ on some aspects. The US rules provide indeed less FDP at certain times of the day, but the EASA proposal provide significantly more rest then the US rules, which is coherent. One cannot compare two sets of FTL rule by isolating one parameter of a complex system." The Agency contracted three independent scientists to assess the original NPA proposal in order to ensure that the revision is based on the latest scientific evidence. The final Opinion, including an amended Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is expected to be published in early summer 2012. Following the final Opinion, the proposed rule will enter the legislative process, where the Commission assisted by National Authorities under Parliamentary scrutiny will finalise and adopt the proposal. (QNA)