Flight Crewmember Flight Time Limitations and Rest Requirements

SUMMARY: This notice of enforcement policy announces to the public the

Federal Aviation Administration's intent to rigorously enforce the

regulations concerning flight time limitations and rest requirements.

These regulations have been under review for some time, and the FAA has

stated with respect to reserve time assignments that if new rules were

not adopted, the FAA intended to ensure that the current rules, as

interpreted, are being correctly implemented. No new rules with regard

to reserve time have been adopted. Therefore, the FAA is reiterating

its longstanding interpretation of its regulations on this issue and is

giving affected certificate holders and flight crewmembers notice of

its intent to enforce its rules in accordance with this interpretation.

This notice is being given so that those affected will have an

opportunity to review their practices and, if necessary, come into full

regulatory compliance.

DATES: This notice of enforcement policy is effective on June 15, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alberta Brown, Air Transportation

Division, AFS-200, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591,

Telephone (202) 267-8321.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Regulation

The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 1007; as amended by 62

Stat. 1216, 49 U.S.C. 551) and subsequently, the Federal Aviation Act

of 1958 (now codified at 49 U.S.C. Sec. 40101 et seq.) addressed the

issue of regulating flight crewmember hours of service. The Federal

Aviation Act, as amended, empowers and directs the Secretary of

Transportation to establish ``regulations in the interest of safety for

the maximum hours or period of service of airmen and other employees of

air carriers.'' 49 U.S.C. Sec. 44701(a)(4). Moreover, the Act also

provides the FAA with the authority to prescribe ``regulations and

minimum standards for other practices, methods, and procedures the

Administrator finds necessary for safety in air commerce and national

security.'' 49 U.S.C. Sec. 44701(a)(5).

The current rules specify flight time limitations and rest

requirements for air carriers certificated to operate under part 121

(domestic: subpart Q; flag: subpart R; and supplemental: subpart S) and

part 135 (subpart F). The FAA has consistently interpreted the term

rest to mean that a flight crewmember is free from actual work for the

air carrier or from the present responsibility for work should the

occasion arise. Thus, the FAA previously has determined that a flight

crewmember on reserve was not at rest if the flight crewmember had a

present responsibility for work in that the flight crewmember had to be

available for the carrier to notify of a flight assignment.

The FAA's current rules at 14 CFR Sec. 121.471 set forth flight

time limitations and rest requirements for domestic operations.

Subsections (b) and (c) of this section have generated numerous

interpretation requests from industry. These sections provide that:

Section 121.471 Flight time limitations and rest requirements:

All flight crewmembers.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, no

certificate holder conducting domestic operations may schedule a

flight crewmember and no flight crewmember may accept an assignment

for flight time during the 24 consecutive hours preceding the

scheduled completion of any flight segment without a scheduled rest

period during that 24 hours of at least the following:

(1) 9 consecutive hours of rest for less than 8 hours of

scheduled flight time.

(2) 10 consecutive hours of rest for 8 or more but less than 9

hours of scheduled flight time.

(3) 11 consecutive hours of rest for 9 or more hours of

scheduled flight time.

(c) A certificate holder may schedule a flight crewmember for

less than the rest required in paragraph (b) of this section or may

reduce a scheduled rest under the following conditions:

(1) A rest required under paragraph (b)(1) of this section may

be scheduled for or reduced to a minimum of 8 hours if the flight

crewmember is given a rest period of at least 10 hours that must

begin no later than 24 hours after the commencement of the reduced

rest period.

(2) A rest required under paragraph (b)(2) of this section may

be scheduled for or reduced to a minimum of 8 hours if the flight

crewmember is given a rest period of at least 11 hours that must

begin no later than 24 hours after the commencement of the reduced

rest period.

(3) A rest required under paragraph (b)(3) of this section may

be scheduled for or reduced to a minimum of 9 hours if the flight

crewmember is given a rest period of at least 12 hours that must

begin no later than 24 hours after the commencement of the reduced

rest period.

Similar language is contained in Sections 135.265 (b) and (c). Also

note the ``look back'' requirement in 135.267(d).

The FAA has consistently interpreted Sec. 121.471(b) and the

corresponding Sec. 135.265(b) to mean that the certificate holder and

the flight crewmembers must be able to look back over the 24

consecutive hours preceding the scheduled completion of the flight

segment and find the required scheduled rest period. This

interpretation of rest also has been applied to pilots on ``reserve

time.'' Reserve time while not defined in 14 CFR is generally

understood to be a period of time when a flight crewmember is not on

duty but must be available to report upon notice for a duty period.

Thus, a flight crewmembers on reserve could not take a flight

assignment, and the certificate holder could not schedule that

crewmember for a flight assignment, unless the flight crewmember had a

scheduled rest period such that at the end of the flight segment one

could look back 24 hours and find the requirement amount of rest.

Compliance and Enforcement Plan

Flight crewmembers and their unions have raised concerns that

scheduling processes used by some certificate holders may not ensure

compliance with flight time restrictions and rest requirements when a

flight crewmember is on reserve duty. Any noncompliance should be

corrected without delay.

The FAA recognizes, however, that current processes for scheduling

flight crewmembers have been in place for some time and that full

compliance might not be able to be achieved immediately. The FAA

therefore intends to take into consideration this fact and the

certificate holder's good faith efforts to come into compliance in

determining what, if any, enforcement action is appropriate if

noncompliance is discovered. With regard to violations by individual

flight crewmembers, the FAA will consider the circumstances of each

case, including such factors as the employing certificate holder's

effort to come into compliance and the culpability of the individual.

If any certificate holder needs to make changes to its scheduling

system, the FAA believes that full compliance can be achieved by all

certificate holders within 180 calendar days. Until that time the FAA

does not intend to target its inspection resources on this compliance

issue. However, on December 12, 1999, the FAA intends to begin a

comprehensive review of certificate holders' flight scheduling

[[Page 32177]]

practices and expects to deal stringently with any violations

discovered.

Issued in Washington, DC on June 10, 1999.

L. Nicholas Lacey,

Director, Flight Standards Service.

[FR Doc. 99-15258 Filed 6-11-99; 2:31 pm]

BILLING CODE 4910-13-M