Cargo growth
has became weaker than passenger traffic growth every year for the past decade. Over the 10 year period 2004 to 2013, the average passenger
traffic growth rate was 6.0%, but just 3.8% for freight. Cargo traffic growth
was negative three times in the last 10 years, compared with just once for
passenger traffic. Cargo pilots can have no more that 16-hour duty days, while passenger pilots are limited to 9-14 hours depending
on flights flown that day. Fatigue has also become a large issues, the pilot is required to sign a
document attesting to his or her fitness to fly. "This rule amends the FAA’s
existing flight, duty and rest regulations applicable to certificate holders
and their flight crew members operating under 14 CFR Part 121"Trejos (2013).
The factors that lead to fatigue in most individuals and
regulates these are to ensure that flight crew members in passenger operations
don’t accumulate dangerous amounts of fatigue. "Fatigue threatens aviation safety
because it increases the risk of pilot error that could lead to an accident."
Trejos (2013). This risk is increases in passenger operations because of the additional
number of potentially impacted individuals. The new requirements eliminate the
current distinctions between domestic, flag and supplemental passenger operations.
The rule provides different requirements based on the time of day, whether an
individual is flying to a new time zone, and being able
to sleep under different circumstances. I do believe these regulations should
be enforced in all the aviation fields. I believe it should provide more safety for the
pilot and the passengers on each aircraft.
There is some debate as
to whether the FAA regulations should apply to air cargo pilots. After all,
every pilot is sharing the same air space and operating complex equipment;
safety becomes a major concern. However, air cargo pilots tend to run shorter
flights than passenger pilots do, which means that regulations should not be
the same for both fields. Cost for the FAA regulations to the air
cargo industry is also a factor. It's a large reason that the FAA did
not extend its ruling to air cargo pilots in the first place. "The estimated
cost of the FAA rule in the passenger pilot realm of the industry is $297
million; however, there is the potential benefit of close to $470 million".(Moore 1982) In
this situation, the financial benefit of the rule is likely; but the same does
not apply to the air cargo industry. There are different FAA regulations for
each.
References
Rest Requirements for Air Cargo Pilots. (2013 January 29), Retrieved from: http://pnglc.com/rest-requirements-for-air-cargo-pilots/.com
Moore T, G,. Deregulation and Re-Regulation of Transportation. Retrieved July 8, 1982: From: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa012.html.com
Air cargo: few other industries would tolerate its structural overcapacity. Retrieved: 22-Oct-2014 From: http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/air-cargo-few-other-industries-would-tolerate-its-structural-overcapacity-192139.com
Trejos, N., New pilot
fatigue rules go into effect this weekend. (2014 January 3). Retrieved from. http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2014/01/03/pilot-fatigue-mandatory-rest-new-faa-rules/4304417/.com
I agree with you. All pilots do the same job and should be treated fairly and therefore operate under the same rules.
ReplyDeleteNice blog! I wasn't aware that cargo pilots can be subject to 16 hour duty days. It leads me to believe that they should be subject to the same fatigue rules that apply to commercial passenger pilots. I also agree with you that the rule might not apply to cargo pilots because of it being a financial burden.
ReplyDeleteI like that you give details about the cargo industries history, it helps visualize how implementing rules that are possibly constraints for the industry might effect the industry, how it might go into another negative or how it could have a positive growth. I also like and agree that there is a definite conflict of whether or not the rules should be placed on the cargo pilots because their operations are different than passenger carriers, like how for cargo pilots can still fly 16hr days but they may not fly that and fly shorter routes.
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