[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32176-32177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15258]



[[Page 32175]]

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Part VI





Department of Transportation





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Federal Aviation Administration



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14 CFR Parts 121 and 135



Flight Crewmember Flight Time Limitations and Rest Requirements; Final 
Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 1999 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 32176]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Parts 121 and 135


Flight Crewmember Flight Time Limitations and Rest Requirements

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of enforcement policy.

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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