After the Colgan accident, the public did not feel safe flying because of the reason of the accident being pilot error due to fatigue. They changed the amount of hours a pilot can work.I feel like congress made that decision for the public eye. So the people feel safe flying again. The new regulation for passenger carrier pilots limits to either 8 during the day, 9 hours at night, and at least 10 hours off between flights, allowing for 8 hours of sleep. The old regulation allowed pilots to have 8 hours off between working to the max of 16 hours. Another regulation change was the amount of hours you need to fly as commercial pilot, the new rule stated you need 1500 hours whereas before the new regulation you needed 250 hours.
The reason for the new regulations is definitely because of money. According to CBS, it’s going to cost the industry $297 million over ten years, when they changed the rules. If cargo was included in that then it would cost about $214 million more (CBS news, 2011). I believe another reason is also to show the public it is safe to fly. The public doesn't care about the cargo pilots since they wont be flying in those aircrafts.
I honestly think that the 1500 hour rule is ridiculous for passenger pilots but if you are applying that rule to commercial pilots. It should be applied to cargo pilots as well.If the FAA feels it is necessary for the other pilots to have 1500 hours before flying commercially then it needs to be necessary for cargo. They may not have passengers but they can still crash and kill civilians or themselves even. The amount of hours working should be the same for cargo and passenger carriers. Fatigue is fatigue no matter who or what is on the aircraft you are flying.
I don't honestly see it affecting my future career as a pilot.Mostly because I was never interested in going the cargo route. Most cargo companies want a lot of experience before flying huge aircrafts. I think by the time I get that experience flying bigger aircrafts I will be around 1500 hours anyways the hour rule shouldn't effect me too much.
References:
Tumulty, B. (2014, February 11). 5 years after N.Y. crash, some airline safety progress. Retrieved October 15, 2015, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/11/colgan-air-crash-prompts-safety-regulations/5372353/
Feds extend pilots' rest time to avoid fatigue. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2015, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/feds-extend-pilots-rest-time-to-avoid-fatigue/
I agree with you that no matter if you are flying 121 or cargo, as a pilot you will be just as tired under the old rules. To not have the cargo pilots complying with the new rule, it is as if the cargo pilot’s job is not quite as important.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, the total cost of implanting the new regulations out weighs its benefits for cargo companies. I also think that it's a good thing that cargo companies are not required to abide by the 1,500 hour rule, which is great news for commercial pilots looking to build hours.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that most cargo company do require a substantial amount of experience to be considered for employment but as we saw last week with kalitta air reducing there hour require to compete with the majors and other airlines. Things do and can change, so if the cargo industry was cover by the new rule this would force them to have to hire more pilot to enable to operate at their current operation status. So they may have not chose but to reduce hour more to get a viable selection pool.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree I believe these new regulations is about money and I like the point you made when you said "I honestly think that the 1500 hour rule is ridiculous for passenger pilots but if you are applying that rule to commercial pilots. It should be applied to cargo pilots as well". I agree this is ridiculous and the FAA should apply this to cargo pilots as well.
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