NEW FLIGHT TIME RULES DO NOT BENEFIT PASSENGERS
Latest study is based on flawed science, says airline industry

22/01/2009

Proposals to reduce the maximum number of hours worked by airline pilots and cabin crew are unjustified and provide no benefit to airlines or the safety of their passengers, according to the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has today published a study by consultants recommending that the current EU-wide regulation concerning air crew Flight Time Duty and Rest Limitations should be revised to reduce flight and duty times.

“European air safety standards are already comparable to the best in the world” says ERA Director General Mike Ambrose. “The report makes little attempt to provide safety evidence to justify its recommendations to revise the current flight time limitation rules. It appears to be a hurriedly undertaken study which disregards the decades of experience in the setting of these regulations accumulated by national aviation authorities throughout Europe. It is these authorities which have both the hands-on knowledge and direct accountability for the safety of flight operations.”

“ERA is disappointed that time and resources have had to be devoted to this study instead of on other initiatives that could contribute more constructively to even more enhanced safety of operations. ‘No-penalty incident reporting’ is one such initiative for which ERA has been lobbying for more than a decade. Although safety incidents are rare, the practice in some states to criminalize incidents prioritises blame and prosecution over encouraging a focus on learning lessons that would help prevent future occurrences. Increasing efforts in this area, rather than using flawed science to make unjustified claims to reduce working hours, would be more in the safety interests of the travelling public.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS
All airlines operating in Europe implement strict Flight Time Limitations under the EU OPS regulation which came into effect in July 2008.

A typical working week for an airline pilot flying intra-European routes is currently 18-20 hours per week, of which 11-12 hours constitute actual flying time [Source: ERA airline data]. This compares to an average European employee whose working week is around 40 hours while the maximum working week for medical doctors in Europe is set at 48 hours.
 
ENDS