S. ll IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES A BILL

Transcription

1 TH CONGRESS D SESSION S. ll To require air carriers to provide all flight attendants with scheduled rest periods of at least consecutive hours between duty periods and to comply with fatigue management plans for flight attendants that have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES llllllllll Mr. BLUMENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll A BILL To require air carriers to provide all flight attendants with scheduled rest periods of at least consecutive hours between duty periods and to comply with fatigue management plans for flight attendants that have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. 6 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION. FLIGHT ATTENDANT DUTY PERIOD LIMITA- TIONS AND REST REQUIREMENTS. (a) RULEMAKING. Not later than 0 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall modify the flight attendant duty period

2 limitations and rest requirements under section.6 of title, Code of Federal Regulations, to require that () all flight attendants scheduled to a duty pe- riod of hours or less are given a scheduled rest period of at least consecutive hours; and 6 () the rest period referred to in paragraph () (A) is not reduced under any cir- 9 cumstances; and (B) occurs between the completion of the scheduled duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty period. 9 0 (b) FATIGUE RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN. () SUBMISSION OF PLAN BY PART AIR CAR- RIERS. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each air carrier operating under part of title, Code of Federal Regulations (referred to in this subsection as a part air carrier ), shall submit a fatigue risk management plan for the carrier s flight attendants to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration for review and acceptance. () CONTENTS OF PLAN. Each fatigue risk management plan submitted under paragraph () shall include

3 (A) current flight time and duty period limitations; (B) a rest scheme that is consistent with such limitations and enables the management of flight attendant fatigue, including annual train- 6 ing to increase awareness of (i) fatigue; (ii) the effects of fatigue on flight at- 9 tendants; and (iii) fatigue countermeasures; and (C) the development and use of method- ology that continually assesses the effectiveness of implementation of the plan, including the ability of the plan (i) to improve alertness; and (ii) to mitigate performance errors. () REVIEW. Not later than year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 9 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall 0 (A) review each fatigue risk management plan submitted under this subsection; and (B)(i) accept the plan; or (ii) reject the plan and provide the part air carrier with suggested modifications to be included when the plan is resubmitted.

4 () PLAN UPDATES. (A) IN GENERAL. Not less frequently than once every years, each part air carrier shall (i) update the fatigue risk management plan submitted under paragraph (); and (ii) submit the updated plan to the Administrator for review and acceptance. (B) REVIEW. Not later than year after the date on which an updated plan is submitted under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Administrator shall (i) review the updated plan; and (ii)(i) accept the updated plan; or (II) reject the updated plan and provide the part air carrier with suggested modifications to be included when the updated plan is resubmitted. () COMPLIANCE. Each part air carrier shall comply with its fatigue risk management plan after the plan is accepted by the Administrator under this subsection. (6) CIVIL PENALTIES. A violation of this subsection by a part air carrier shall be treated as

5 a violation of chapter of title 9, United States Code, for the purpose of applying civil penalties under chapter 6 of such title.