Cargo Flight and Duty Regulations

The FAA changed many different things about this rule to ultimately manage the fatigue rate in aircrews for all passenger carrier airlines. There were big changes I noticed about this new rule compared to the old rule that were very night and day. With the old rule there were different rest requirements that were based upon domestic, international, and unscheduled flight. This was changed in the fact that it makes no difference what type of flight was made that day, the new rule applies to all flights. Another big change made with this rule is that a pilot must sign a document affirming that he/she is “fit for duty” and the airline is required to remove the pilot if fatigue is reported (Houston, n.d.). In the old rule there was no clear-cut definition for whether or not a pilot was fit for duty. The old rule also limited the amount of flight hours per day and per year, where the new rule limits the amount of hours by day, week, month, and year (Houston, n.d.). The last big differentiation I noticed was that in the old rule there was a rest period of at least nine hours, which could be reduced to 8 hours. With the new rule the rest period for pilots is 10 hours with the opportunity for at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep (Houston, n.d.). There are other different aspects of this new rule that differ from the old rule, but these few that I have stated stood out the most.

As far as I have researched there are no flight and duty regulations regarding cargo carriers. I can only imagine that the previous rules for passenger carriers apply for the cargo side of aviation as well. I don’t know if I am not looking in the right area or if there is no change from the previous rules. The only information I can find on the subject of cargo carrier flight duty limitations is toward their exemption from the new regulations set forth for the passenger carriers. I even looked into the FAR/AIM, maybe it is my lack of knowledge of navigating the book itself, but I could not find any information regarding the question of flight duty regulations for cargo carriers.

It was said by James Fraser (2014), “the aviation professionals at the FAA understand that there is no difference between pilots who fly cargo and pilots who carry passengers, other than the fact that cargo carriers' management complained that increased rest for pilots would cost too much” (Goelz, & Hall 2014). I believe that James Fraser is correct in assuming this, whenever a new regulation is implemented it will inevitably cost air carriers more money. I feel that cargo carriers were included and even encouraged to take part in this new regulation. Cargo carriers would lose quite a bit of money whenever they wouldn’t have a pilot in an aircraft making a flight, due to his extended rest periods. The situation with cargo carriers falls simply on losing money from implementing this new rule.

I believe that the cargo carriers should have been forced to take part in these new rules. There is absolutely no difference in the flights made by cargo pilots and passenger pilots. Cargo pilots use the same airways, airports, and aircraft as a passenger pilot; therefore they should be entitled to the same flight and duty regulations.

From a pilot standpoint I feel that there would less on the job fatigue, I know I feel better after a full 8 hours of sleep the night before I go fly. This might also decrease the pay for a cargo carrier job, because of the losses that cargo carriers would sustain from it. At the same time the impact on me personally would not be that great considering that I plan on carrying passengers in the regionals. Nothing is set in stone and I could potentially be thrust into the cargo side of aviation and I would be glad that these rest requirements would be in place.

References

Hall, J., & Goelz, P. (2014, September 11). Cargo pilot hours should be regulated, too. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/09/11/cargo-pilot-airline-safety-fatigue-regulations-commercial-column/15474061/

Houston, S. (n.d.). FAA final rule: Pilot duty and rest requirements. About. Retrieved from http://aviation.about.com/od/Regulations/a/Faa-Final-Rule-Pilot-Duty-And-Rest-Requirements.htm