Brussels, 15/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 12 July, the member states approve the proposed revision of flight time limits as proposed by the European Commission, on the basis of proposals from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The legislation will have an impact on the fatigue of pilots and cabin crew members and, consequently, on the safety of passengers.
Regulation 2016/2008 will therefore be revised to give it a more uniform European legislative framework. The Parliament and the Council have still to accept or reject these proposals by the end of October, without any amendments as this dossier is being dealt with under the comitology procedure.
The Commission has made a few changes to the proposals of the EASA, notably as regards night stand-by duty, cabin rest for crew and night working time, which will be reduced from 11 hours and 45 minutes to 11 hours.
The European Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, says that “the travelling public needs reassurance that the public authorities are doing everything possible to ensure safety in the skies, including the sensitive and complicated issue of aircrew fatigue. We are determined to see stronger, safer rules applying across Europe, whether in relation to night-time flying or on rest periods.”
It is reported that the member states strongly supported the Commission's proposals, which have also gone down extremely well with the industry. The sector has reacted very positively, having supported the EASA recommendations since the start of the procedure, to the great consternation of the pilots and cabin crew. The presidents of the Association of European Airlines (ERA) and of the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) state that once it is adopted and set in place, the new legislation will create a raft of common rules for the aviation market. “There is no need for any additional assessment of the proposal. We therefore call on the European Parliament and Council to adopt the revision without any further delay”, they add. The European Cockpit Association (ECA), which represents pilots, continues to have extremely strong misgivings about the proposed legislative revision, which it claims will not resolve the problem of fatigue, because it is not sufficiently based on scientific evidence and is therefore potentially dangerous for air safety, it states. (MD/transl.fl)