US to propose limit on pilot flying hours

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Officials in the Obama administration indicated earlier this week that they intend to propose new limitations on the number of hours that airline pilots are permitted to fly in a move to curb pilot fatigue – which is an issue that has concerned safety officials for more than 20 years.

Randy Babbitt, head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has said he will propose the new regulation in the coming months.  He has been with the agency for just a few weeks, and is a former pilot, who says the issue is a complicated one as pilots who fly fewer hours but experience more take-offs and landings are likely to be more fatigued that those who fly for more hours on long-haul flights – and experience a single take-off and landing.

Babbit, who was accompanied at a press briefing by Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation, said: “The bottom line is I’m going to want a new rule.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has urged the FAA for nearly two decades to revise pilot hours regulations. In 1995, the FAA did propose a new rule, but progress was stalled when the industry and pilot unions could not come to an agreement on the proposal. Unions wanted a reduction in the number of hours that pilots could be on duty and an increase in the amount of time off between flights. Airlines were opposed to the changes.

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