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WORLD AIRPORT WEEK September 12, 2000 Cargo Pilots Call for One Level of Safety Cargo pilots attending last week's Air Cargo Symposium 2000 agreed to a resolution stating that "all major U.S. carrier pilots commit to and insist on one level of safety" for both passenger and cargo aircraft. Currently, passenger carriers operate under stricter safety standards than cargo flights. Cargo pilots' union representatives, who gathered in Washington for the symposium, let government officials know that they want their flights to be regulated by the same rules that govern commercial passenger aircraft. "For too long we have been looked at as the ugly stepchild in the airline industry," said Tom Rachford, a union representative for Emery Worldwide pilots, in a symposium address. "We must demand the same (safety) standards (as passenger carriers).... We need to step out of the shadows of the passenger industry and gain respect as the professionals that we are." One example of the differing standards is the separate rest policies for cargo and passenger pilots. A passenger pilot flying the same route with the same plane as a cargo pilot is forced to have at least eight hours of rest before his flight while the cargo pilot is required to rest eight hours after his flight. This is of particular concern to cargo pilots since most of their flights are at night. "Your workday begins as others' ends," said National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall in a symposium speech. "Human fatigue is elusive and subjective.... Fatigue is a killer." Added Hall: "There should be one level of safety. Cargo is the fastest growing segment of aviation. Hopefully we won't wait until a cargo plane crashes in a neighborhood" before one level of safety is implemented. Cargo pilots work the "graveyard shift," said Rep. James Oberstar (D- Minn.), ranking member of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee. "There's no curb to pull over and rest." Cargo pilots believe that planes carrying boxes should be held to the same safety standards as planes transporting people. "There simply has to be one level of safety in the skies above," said Mike Weiland of the FedEx Pilots
Association. "Cargo is the most forgotten segment of aviation in terms of safety." The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), which oversees the unequal safety standards, will issue a "fatigue counter-measures advisory certificate" later this year. But changing the rules will be much more difficult than issuing an advisory, FAA officials An effort in recent years to change the "rest-reserve" rules that bother cargo pilots so much "came awfully close but just didn't get done," according to FAA head Jane Garvey, who spoke to the pilots at the symposium and fielded questions that weren't all friendly. Garvey said that changing the rest rules is important but added that she "can't give a timetable" on when the rules will be changed. "You're going to end up with a watered down regulation," grumbled one pilot after Garvey left the symposium, which was held at the Teamsters International Building across from the U.S. Capitol. One reason cargo pilots may be disrespected in the area of safety, several symposium speakers asserted, is that they fail to speak with one voice. The four largest cargo carriers are represented by four different unions. "There's something wrong with this picture," said Dan Brannan, a union representative for DHL pilots. How can the diversity of unions representing pilots "be a sign of anything other than we are not working together?" Brannan asked. "Why not have the various (pilot) union leaders come together.... Think about how much more effective we'd be, how much more clout we'd have.... I grant you it will be no small challenge to overcome history and differences. But if can come together under one umbrella, I believe that truly we can protect our profession." Perhaps the resolution agreed to at last week's symposium will be the first step toward the unification of the pilot unions. One Level of Safety Following is the statement released at the conclusion of the Air Cargo Symposium 2000: The attendees of (the symposium), representing over 79,000 pilots in both cargo and passenger airlines, resolved (Sept. 7) that all major U.S. carrier pilots commit to and insist on one level of safety. This resolution would apply to a single level of safety to crew rest, fatigue, and all safety issues for all pilots (flying passenger and cargo flights). Pilot fatigue is a scientifically substantiated problem industry wide, which, according to the pilot group, is inadequately addressed and recognized under current regulations. |