May 1, 2017 at 6:00 PM
May 1, 2017
Unifor has teamed up with other pilots’ unions to launch a new campaign called Safer Skies to pressure the federal government to fix pilot workload regulations.
Fatigue Risk Management Systems for pilots in Canada have not been updated since 1996 and pilots say that scientific research conducted since then demands that regulations be updated.
"Pilot fatigue must be taken seriously," said Cheryl Robinson, President of Unifor Local 2002. "Inaction is no excuse when we have the science to make our skies safer."
Current rules allow for pilots to be on duty for 14 hours, extendable to 17 hours in certain circumstances. After researching fatigue on factors like alertness and reaction time, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) in the U.S. recommends a maximum daytime duty period of 12 hours, or 10 hours during night-time.
The Safer Skies campaign is calling on the Government of Canada to mirror the NASA recommendations for Canadian pilots and apply the rules equally to passenger and cargo airlines.
At the moment, draft regulations at Transport Canada still leave open the possibility of a night-time shift that is two hours longer than what is scientifically-recommended.
Unifor pilots are calling on members to sign the online petition for safer fatigue management at saferskies.ca
Source: Unifor
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