If the Federal Aviation Administration gets its way, airlines will face yet another headwind: the rising cost of air safety. In the biggest change to flight crew training requirements in 20 years, the FAA is proposing a new safety rule that would send pilots back to school. The plan, which will be out for comment until July 19, would require airlines to put their pilots through “real-world” emergency training scenarios in flight simulators.
In addition to this enhanced individual training, flight crews also would have to train together, learn to coordinate their actions and fly scenarios based on actual events. The new rules would require remedial training for pilots who have failed proficiency checks or tests or whose performance has been unsatisfactory.
This new rule represents the FAA’s second stab at beefing up flight training requirements in the wake of the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407. That flight, marketed as Continental Connection under a code-share with Continental, crashed on landing approach, killing all 49 aboard and one person on the ground. The crash was blamed on flight crew fatigue and inadequate training in how to recognize and respond to an aerodynamic stall.
No one argues that air safety isn’t a paramount consideration for all industry stakeholders: passengers, lawmakers, regulators – and airlines. So what’s the problem? In an industry already under siege from high operating costs and the whims of oil prices and travel demand, significant new costs can weigh heavily on margins.
The new FAA rule not only would force airlines to revamp their entire crew training programs, they would also have to dramatically expand the use of full-motion flight simulators. In its first draft of the rule in late 2009, FAA estimated the cost of more frequent training and greater use of simulators to be $230 million over 10 years. The Air Transport Association insisted FAA had seriously low-balled the cost, estimating the true cost to U.S. airlines at $3.3 billion.
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