Brussels, 23/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - European airlines are highly critical of the report published on Thursday 22 January by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) concerning pilots' rest and duty time (commonly referred to as FTL). The Association of European Airlines (AEA) has responded with “consternation” to the report, reproaching the European agency for having used vague methods and for drawing conclusions that do not reflect the true situation. Reticent about harmonising working conditions for flight personnel, AEA simply points out that the setting in place of recommendations in the report would mean that airline companies would have to increase the number of pilots by 15-20% and that flight schedules would have to be changed on links that have been operated quite safely for years, like that between Europe and Japan (a stopover would be required during the flight, which would be to the passengers' disadvantage, AEA states). The EASA report recommends that, for safety reasons, the maximum number of on duty hours would have to be restricted (permissible maximum of 180 duty hours in 3 consecutive weeks) for pilots as well as for on board personnel. According to the EASA, the current maximum should be reduced by an additional provision for a maximum of 100 duty hours in 14 consecutive days. In the same way, the period of daily service (currently 13/14 hours at most) exceeds reasonable limits and should be reduced (see EUROPE 9706). AEA Secretary General Ullrich Schulte-Strathaus said: “Pilot hours are already very closely regulated in a system which has demonstrably delivered safe operation over many years and millions of flights. The current body of legislation has evolved in an empirical process at a national level involving airlines and pilot bodies. To try and take this diversity of schemes which are seen to work well and mould them into a 'one-size-fits-all' template will add nothing to safety”. The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) said for its part that the restrictions in working hours are “unjustified” and are in no way to the advantage either to the airline companies or to the safety of passengers. “European air safety standards are already comparable to the best in the world”, said ERA Director Mike Ambrose, who went on to underline that the EASA report “makes little attempt to provide safety evidence to justify its recommendations”. According to the ERA, an airline pilot flying intra-European routes is currently working 18-20 a week, of which 11-12 hours constitute actual flying time. (A.By./transl.jl)