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FAA Vows Tougher Rules For Commuter Airlines

Commuter crash in Buffalo highlights industry's problems

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 16, 2009

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Under fire from an inspector general for lax airline inspections, the Federal Aviation Administration has vowed to draft tougher work rules for pilots at commuter airlines. The goal is to promote safety by reducing fatigue caused by over work.

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt announced the initiative at Monday’s summit on airline safety in Washington. The summit, and the promise of new rules, come in the wake of the probe into February’s crash of a commuter airliner in Buffalo that killed 50 people.

“Some of the things I've seen and heard about practices in the regional airline industry are not acceptable,” Babbitt said. “Our job is to deliver and ensure safety, and recently we’ve seen some cracks in the system.”

As the U.S. airline industry has struggled to contain costs, more and more flights have been shifted to smaller, commuter airlines. By some estimates, commuter airlines now carry about half of U.S. airline passengers.

In the investigation of the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo, it was revealed that the pilot had previously failed some tests before being hired by the airline. It was also established that regional airline flight crews often commute hundreds, or even thousands, of miles to their jobs, and then fly for long hours before resting.

Babbitt said prospective employers need to have as much information as they can about the pilots they’re hiring, and that information must be accurate, complete and easily accessible. He said the FAA is updating its advisory circular on pilot records, setting the expectation that airlines request all records that are available from the FAA and previous employers when they hire a new pilot. He also said the airlines need to increase their level of training.

“There’s a public perception out there right now that pilots can repeatedly fail check rides and still keep their job,” Babbitt said. “We want passengers to have no doubts about the qualifications of the person flying their plane.”

Babbitt said he hopes to draft the new set of rules within a few months and put forth an accelerated timetable for implementing them.

The summit, which was closed to the public, was attended by airline executives, officials of the Airline Pilots Association and other industry groups.

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