The Cargo Industry

     As a result of the Colgan Air accident, the FAA made new flight and duty regulations that changed the amount of flight time a pilot has, their duty period, and the amount of rest they have to get based on many different factors. The difference between the new regulations and the old regulations is that the old regulations “included different rest requirements for domestic, international and unscheduled flights.  Those differences were not necessarily consistent across different types of passenger flights, and did not take into account factors such as start time and time zone crossings” (Duquette & Sachse, 2011). The new regulations base these times off of what time of the day that the pilots are flying, how many flight segments they have, and if they are crossing time zones, how many do they cross. Pilots are allowed anywhere from 9 to 14 hours for their flight duty depending on what time of day their day begins and how many segments they have to fly. Pilots are only allowed to have a flight time of eight to nine hours. Not only that, but pilots need to have at least ten hours of rest period which adds two more hours from the old regulations, but the pilots need to be able to get uninterrupted eight hours of sleep. The new regulations also changed the amount of allowed flight duty time a pilot can have in a week and on within twenty-eight days. They implemented these regulations to try to limit the amount of fatigue that pilots have to try to prevent accidents from occurring.

     The current flight and duty limitations for cargo carriers are different than the commercial pilots. The cargo carriers were left out of the new regulations when it came to changing the amount of hours needed for duty time and resting time. “Cargo pilots fly under older rules that do not require as must rest, permit longer times on duty and allow them to fly beyond eight hours in certain conditions. And those rules do not impose any special limits on flight time at night, when cargo carriers do much of their flying” (Carroll, 2014). Part of the big issue of flying at night is that our body usually relates night time as a time where we should be sleeping and it can be really hard to get on a sleeping pattern where you are up at night and sleeping during the day. As cargo pilots who do a lot of flying during the nighttime, people see this as an issue because they feel like they are more likely to become fatigued easier.

     Cargo carriers were at first included in the new regulations, but once the final rule came out, they were excluded. “Cargo pilots were included when the regulations were originally proposed by the FAA, but the White House ordered the agency to remove them. The idea that and ‘exemption’ providing all-cargo carriers to ‘opt in – or – out’ of this new rule fails to meet the mandate of ‘One Level of Safety’” (One Level of Safety, n.d.). I think a lot of the reason that the cargo carriers are not included in the new changes is because of how much it will cost the cargo carriers. “Covering cargo operators under the new rule would be too costly compared to the benefits generated in this portion of the industry” (Duquette & Sachse, 2011). I think that even though it might cost a lot to implement this system for cargo carriers, there are still costs to pilots being fatigued that are greater than money. Even though there are less people on board, if accidents do occur because of pilot fatigue, this is a far greater cost because people can become injured or die and damage can be done to the aircraft. If pilots become more and more fatigued, the chances of accidents occurring becomes greater. I think there could be some way to make regulations for cargo carriers that can help them get more rest and prevent fatigue that doesn’t cost them as much as these regulations.

     I believe that cargo carriers should be included in the new rules. Yes, it may be really expensive, but it is also expensive when accidents occur. Maybe the overall benefits of implementing a system that allows for safer travels for cargo operations will lower the chances of accidents which can then save lives of not only the pilots, but those that live in areas where potential accidents can occur or anyone else that is flying in the sky. Cargo pilots are still humans and they do get tired. Flying at night time is a lot harder than flying during the day due to our circadian rhythm. We relate night time to sleeping and it can be very hard to get out of that habit of sleeping at night. Another hard thing that affects someone while flying is crossing many time zones. It affects our bodies a lot when we are constantly changing time zones. “These types of operations, particularly nighttime flying and around-the world operations, are the norm for all-cargo carriers. Cargo pilots are routinely operating aircraft under the most fatigue inducing conditions and are not afforded the protection of scientifically based duty and rest regulations” (One Level of Safety, n.d.). This is a big deal because as cargo carriers who are flying during the worst hours of any given day, it can take effect on your body and slowly start to make staying awake harder. This can impair the pilots’ thinking which can lead to poor decisions or longer response time. Another reason why they should be included in these regulations is because of the effect it can have on other people. Although they may not have as many people on board as a commercial aircraft would, they could still have loss of life. Every life is important even if the number of people is smaller. Cargo pilots still fly in the same sky as commercial pilots, so if they crash, this can affect the surrounding area, those on board and their families, and their company.

    

     As management, if cargo carriers were included in these new rules, I think that management would really have to figure out how to schedule their employees. They would probably need to hire more pilots in order to fill any gaps that will occur if pilots need a certain amount of rest period and have limitations on flight duty time. I do think this could help bring in more pilots though because people would possibly be more interested in flying cargo if they had limitations on these issues. Pilots wouldn’t feel constantly fatigued and this could help possibly draw in some more pilots. I do think this could help management in some ways because it can prevent all the hassle the comes with violations or accidents due to pilot fatigue. It can spare them the time and money that come with these situations. Another way it can potentially help is by keeping the pilots healthy. This could help them stay in good shape and health so they don’t become ill and need to take time off of work or even call off right before their flight because they are too tired and cannot fly.   

References

Carroll, J. R. (2014, March 13). UPS Pilots Urge More Rest For Cargo Crews. Retrieved from USA Today : http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/ups-pilots-urge-more-rest-for-cargo-crews/6402615/

Duquette, A., & Sachse, B. N. (2011, December 21). Press Release – FAA Issues Final Rule on Pilot Fatigue. Retrieved from Federal Aviation Administration: https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=13272

One Level of Safety. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Coalition of Airline PIlots Associations: http://www.capapilots.org/cargocarveout