Strasbourg, 05/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has adopted without debate a report by British Labour member Brian Simpson on the proposal of regulation aimed at harmonising technical requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation. The main part of the report is an amendment setting out minimum norms for the flight and duty time of pilots, as well as rest periods. The main provisions provide that: maximum daily flight duty should not exceed 13 hours in the daytime and 11 hours 45 minutes between 22h00 and 04h59. A maximum extension of one hour is authorised in some cases, but requires a longer rest time of two hours before and after the flight.
The Simpson Report had given rise to considerable reaction on the part of pilots represented by the European Cockpit Association (ECA) (see EUROPE of 19 July, p.13). "We await the reaction of the Commission on this point", Giancarlo Crivellaro, Secretary General of the organisation, told EUROPE. He added that "the Simpson report has not taken into account scientific opinion that the provisions could be a danger for air safety". In addition to over-long flight time and over-short rest periods, "we are mainly concerned about the repetition of flight time: 60 flight hours for 7 consecutive days", explained Mr Crivellaro. The Commission considers "everything will depend on the Council's reaction: if a qualified majority can be reached, then things will starting moving", a Community source stated. In the case of too great a split within the Council, however, the Commission could give up the amendment. The question of minimum flight time could then be treated in the context of the European Air Safety Agency, the regulations of which are to be published in coming days in the Official Journal.