These new guidelines have a few changes from the older rules, all with the idea of added safety in mind. To start, the new rules bring in line all flights, period. The old rules allowed for different guidelines to be followed for domestic, international, and unscheduled flights. Now the new rules are in place for all and apply to all. The new rules mandate a "10-hour minimum rest period prior to the flight duty period, a two-hour increase over the old rule" (FAA), which is in place to allow pilots an opportunity for 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep between duty cycles, instead of just an 8 hour break between fight duty cycles, per the old rules. The new rule also revises overall cumulative flight duty and flight time limits, measuring per week and per 28-day period. It also includes limitations on allowable annual flight time and "requires that pilots have at least 30 consecutive hours free from duty on a weekly basis, a 25 percent increase over the old rules." (FAA). These rules add many other facets to the system to allow pilots to remain better rested and more fit to fly before their scheduled duty days. (Full breakdown of new rules available at faa.gov, cited below)
Now, all this being said, cargo carriers are not currently subject to these new rules. According to the FAA's own press release, this new rule "overhauls commercial passenger airline pilot scheduling to ensure pilots have a longer opportunity for rest before they enter the cockpit" (FAA), but does not mention, nor include rulings for cargo carriers. To me, this just seems really silly, but for some reason, the FAA has deemed that cargo pilots do not need the same rest as airline pilots. The only reason that I can believe that cargo pilots are exempt is that the cargo carriers don't usually fly with "innocent" souls on board. Bigger cargo carriers, like FedEx and UPS sell one thing, their name. They are mail companies through and through, and they make money off of nothing else. If a package is not delivered on time, customer satisfaction goes down, and business suffers. The FAA, when they initially released the NPRM with the new rules laid out, urged cargo carriers to 'opt-in' of their own accord (AirKarp), but did not automatically include them under the new ruling. From the beginning, almost all of the cargo carriers (UPS and FedEx especially) have fought the rule and refused to 'opt-in' to this ruling.
While I do understand the logic, from a business perspective, that the pencil pushers at UPS and FedEx qualify these decisions with, I think this is absolutely asinine. I believe that all cargo carriers should be included in this new rule. I understand that more rest time means less flight time, which means either fewer packages delivered on time, or more pilots to pay to fill the gaps, but this rule is in place for safety of human life. As a pilot, I cannot believe that some of the pilots out there are still subject to the same conditions that were discovered to be the root cause of the Colgan 3407 crash. God forbid one of these days a Colgan-type crash occurs with a FedEx or UPS plane, the pencil pushers up the ladder may finally get the picture. Hard to retain a business image of on-time delivery when an entire 777's worth of packages gets vaporized in a field somewhere because the execs up top didn't deem it worth the extra money or lost time to let the pilots rest when they had the chance.
References -
FAA. (2011, December 21). Press Release – FAA Issues Final Rule on Pilot Fatigue. Retrieved October 08, 2016, from https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=13272
I agree with the UPS employees on the matter. They deserve the opportunity for these new regulations. Due to more rest time equating to less flight time, it still gives opportunity for a more safe and professional environment. The cargo pilots job is just as important as regional pilots. They deserve proper rest and pay but due to them not bringing in as much finance as regionals, they are not perceived as important enough.
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