A plan to combat pilot fatigue has been unveiled by the US airlines' trade organisation the Air Transport Association (ATA), but the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has called the scheme "a delaying tactic" against proposed tightened US Federal Aviation Administration pilot duty limits.
The ATA claims that its member airlines will modify their practices to reduce fatigue-related risk among crews. Ferry flights, for example, can be legally carried out when a crew has run out of agreed duty time, and the ATA says this practice is to be stopped. Under existing rules, only flight time is regulated and duty time can be unlimited, but the ATA says duty time limits will be set. To establish these, the ATA says it will establish a scientific advisory board to conduct research on fatigue.
ALPA insists that research has already been conducted: "It's time to stop studying, stop offering initiatives. Airline pilots are having to struggle with the effects of inadequate regulations."
Source: Flight International
