Pilot flying hours: new EU-wide rules establish maximum fly and standby time of 16 hours

The European Parliament has adopted a Regulation establishing EU-wide rules governing the working hours of pilots and cabin personnel. Mathieu Grosch MEP, EPP Group Coordinator in the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament, welcomes the new flight time Regulation which will reduce crew fatigue thus improving overall safety conditions for flight personnel and their passengers.

"The safety of passengers and pilots has always been the EPP Group’s first priority in the preparation of the new European flight time limitation Regulation. The new rules will greatly enhance this safety: if we compare the current different national legislations with the new European rules, in nearly all cases, national safety levels are maintained and in most cases improved thanks to a better flight time-rest time ratio", said Grosch.

The European flight time Regulation reduces the total period in which pilots are flying or on standby to a maximum of 16 hours. For night flights this will be further reduced to 11 hours.

Existing national social legislation and collective agreements will stay in place with the entry into force of the new Regulation governing working time and conditions, as far as they are at least as strict as the new EU-wide rules. National safety legislation, however, will be replaced by the new EU rules. Derogations for Member States wishing to impose stricter requirements than the EU Regulation are possible through special flexibility provisions.

There were several years of preparation ahead of today’s vote. A group of Member States’ safety experts and the EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) specialists reviewed over 50 scientific studies on airline crews’ working and rest time.

Grosch appreciates that the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) shares the view that the European Commission proposal reduces crew fatigue and enhances safety. “However, I hope that on future occasions, debates on such important issues are based on unbiased information. We based our decision on facts, not on false rumours", he concluded.