Cargo Carrier Regulations

1) As a result of the Colgan Air accident, the FAA institute new flight and duty regulations. Summarize  these new regulations and describe how they are different from the old flight and duty regulations.

The new flight and duty regulations have generally been in the pilots favor and best interest. Flight rest periods is one of the major changes in new regulations. Pilots in cargo are only allowed to be scheduled 9-14 hours a day currently. (FAA 2011) They are also only allowed to fly 8 hours of those scheduled hours before they are required to take a rest. If a flight is longer than 8 hours, pilots may need to take a required rest period during the flight.(FAA 2011) I think this is very smart of the FAA for creating these regulations since there have been 14 accidents that have been fatigue related since 1990. (News) Another regulation that has changed is the crew rest period from 8 hours to 10 hours from flight to flight. The pilot is also required to have 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. 

2) Cargo carriers are exempt from the Part 117 rules. What are the current flight and duty limitations for cargo carriers?

Currently, cargo carriers are exempt from part 117 flight rules. When it comes to the safety side of the issue, cargo carriers operate under part 121 for fatigue areas. They are subjected to many of the same rest requirements as air carriers are in part 121. The pilot themselves can always declare themselves unfit to fly due to sickness or fatigue. I think this is a great thing for cargo pilots to take advantage of if the company is doing some unsafe procedures when it comes to fatigue. The pilot can always declare unfit to fly for his/her own safety. I think this is an important rule that pilots can take business advantage of since cargo carriers are exempt from part 117 flight rules. 

3) Why do you feel that cargo carriers have been excluded from the new changes? Value of life? Public perception? Too much money for the carrier? Other reasons? All the above? You may find that reading the preamble of the final rule is helpful in answering this question.

I think it is a combination of these things. When you think of major air carriers carrying many passengers at a time, the value of human life from flight to flight is astronomical. While on cargo operations, the value of human life is really just the crew, the other values on the flight is the actual cargo and these are material things that can be replaced. For this reason, I can certainly see why air carriers should be held to a higher standard than cargo carriers. The public perception of air carriers is another huge reason that air carriers need to be held to a higher standard of flight. If the public does not trust the advantage of flight, then the air carriers will loose huge amounts of safety. This is business different when it comes to cargo operators. Cargo operators don't really need the trust or opinion of the public because the public completely doesn't really pertain to the business of the cargo company. These are some of the key reasons why cargo carriers have been excluded from these new changes. 

4) Do you believe cargo carriers should be included in the new rules? Why or why not?

I do not believe cargo carriers should be included in the new rules. Mainly, for the same reasons I stated in the questions above. I think cargo carriers are a lot different that passenger and air carriers inside and out. Im not saying that cargo carriers should have less safety perimeters than part 121 operators, however, I do believe that 121 operators have a higher value of human life and liabilities. For this reason, cargo operators shouldn't have to be included in these new rules and it should be up to the cargo companies if they want to commit to these rules and increase the level of safety. 

5) Finally, what would be the impact to your career if cargo carriers were to be included in these new rules - Pilots, address this from a pilot perspective, management address from a management perspective.

I don't think it would make a huge impact in my own personal career as a pilot. I don't plan on doing cargo flying in my future. I am hopefully going to be a flight instructor and build my hours that way. However, many pilots take the cargo route as a way to build hours for the airlines. If the 1500 hour rule was mandatory for cargo operators, I think it would make the airline pilot shortage even more prominent in the industry. It already takes a lot of time and money to get to the airlines. If the 1500 hour rule is applied to cargo carriers, I believe their would also be less cargo pilots for the industry. I believe they rules and regulations are complete the way they are now. 

News. (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.cargoair.org/2016/04/setting-the-record-straight-on-all-cargo-duty-and-rest-amendment/

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2011). Press release-FAA issues final rule on pilot fatigue.FederalAviationAdministration.Retrievedfrom https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=13272