Graham Warwick/Atlanta
PROPOSED NEW US Federal Aviation Administration rules on pilot flight and duty time will "devastate" the US on-demand air-charter industry, says the US National Air Transportation Association (NATA). Many charter companies and fixed-base operators will be unable to bear the cost of the additional pilots required to operate under the proposed restrictions, the NATA says.
On-demand operators face an increase in labour costs of at least 50%, with some small operators which rely heavily on part-time pilots facing increases of up to 400%, the Association estimates. The NATA is planning "devastation-prevention" meetings across the USA to organise opposition to the new restrictions before the period for public comment on the FAA's notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) closes on 19 March.
"The devastation this rule will cause is complete and irreversible," says NATA. Andrew Cebula, vice president of government and industry affairs, says that the NPRM, which proposes one set of flight and duty-time rules, for airlines and air-taxi operators, "...ignores the on-demand nature of air charter".
He cites changes, which reduce flight times while limiting the availability of reserve pilots. "The on-demand industry relies heavily on pilots in reserve. There is no practical way [to operate under the new rules] without drastically increasing costs by employing more pilots to fly fewer hours," he argues.
John Grillo, owner of Executive Flightways, a four-Learjet on-demand operator based in New York, says that he will have to increase his pilot workforce from 12 to 16.The proposed rules, are intended to improve safety, by reducing pilot fatigue. They were, formulated by the FAA, after operators and pilots' unions failed to agree.
NATA says that the impact of the NPRM extends to fixed-based operators, which rely on the on-demand industry for about 20-25% of their business.
Source: Flight International
