Report calls for new EU-wide flight time rules

A new report published today recommends that flight and duty times for airline cabin crews should be cut.

It says that the current EU-wide regulation concerning air crew flight time duty and rest limitations should be revised to reduce flight and duty times.

The study, by a firm of consultants, was commissioned by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Its proposals were immediately branded as "unjustified" by the European Regions Airline Association (ERA), which said they provide "no benefit" to airlines or the safety of their passengers.

"European air safety standards are already comparable to the best in the world," says Mike Ambrose, director general of ERA, the representative body for intra-European air transport.

"The report makes little attempt to provide safety evidence to justify its recommendations to revise the current flight time limitation rules.

"It appears to be a hurriedly undertaken study which disregards the decades of experience in the setting of these regulations accumulated by national aviation authorities throughout Europe.

"It is these authorities which have both the hands-on knowledge and direct accountability for the safety of flight operations," he said.

All airlines operating in Europe have to abide by strict flight time limits under regulations which came into effect in July 2008.

A typical working week for an airline pilot flying within European routes is currently 18-20 hours per week, of which 11-12 hours constitute actual flying time.

This compares to an average European employee whose working week is around 40 hours while the maximum working week for medical doctors in Europe is set at 48 hours.

Ambrose added, "Although safety incidents are rare, the practice in some states to criminalise incidents prioritises blame and prosecution over encouraging a focus on learning lessons that would help prevent future occurrences.

"Increasing efforts in this area, rather than using flawed science to make unjustified claims to reduce working hours would be more in the safety interests of the travelling public."

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