Largely obscured by the preoccupation with new security directives inspired by September 11, the debate over the FAA’s now binding interpretation of a long-standing pilot duty-time rule appears to have run its course. In fact, traffic declines have rendered the issue moot at major airlines, where pilot furloughs have left many longing for the days when duty times approached the 16-hr limit set by the FAA. Nevertheless, the burden of ensuring that dispatch practices meet the more exacting requirements remains a real concern, after FAA officials last month completed their nationwide sweep of airline computer systems and procedures for
compliance.
“The systems in place now with most regional airlines do not use acars to keep track of pilots’ schedules,” RAA director of technical affairs Dave Lotterer told AIN. “Someone is going to have to keep track of those times manually. Often it comes down to judgment calls. If you send a crew to an outstation that doesn’t have additional crewmembers, you’re gambling they may get stuck there.”
