The minimum rest period for flight attendants in the United States has just increased, thanks to a sensible policy change.
Continue reading: FAA Increases Flight Attendant Minimum Rest Period
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It would be interesting to see what airlines currently comply with the rule already and what airlines do not. I suspect that the big 3 plus WN already do and it will be regional airlines that are least compliant which will mean yet one more cost for regional airlines which will further erode the viability of RJs.
In EU the minimum rest period is 12h after a duty or the equal duty period worked if it exceeds the 12h. In US it seems like they are really many steps behind, despite this new rule.
Is there a March DST one-hour waiver? If not, it's going to be annoying for the schedulers.
Schedulers work in UTC for the most part, which obviously does not ever change.
EASA does make provision for reduced rest and discretionary extended duty periods as well though. So it isn't really a like-to-like comparison.
I am retired after nearly 50 years with a major airline (started as a flight attendant and retired as an executive). I strongly agree with the new rest requirement.
The new regulations match the pilot regulations so it's, in practice, not a big deal. The cabin crew and flight crew just remain together, coming in at night and leaving the next day on the same flight.
However, FA's are complainers and cream puffs. Their job is not that difficult. True, they have to memorize stuff so there's a learning curve. They need to remember the doors of an A320 versus 737 but it's nothing like balancing lots of important information like a pilot or surgeon.
At most, the schedules get changed before, during, and after the March changeover. For example, Saturday's flights start 30 minutes earlier. Or just have a different schedule on that first Sunday. Compress the layover times on Sunday.
Airlines might use UTC/GMT but the 7 am flight on Sunday is still going to be 7 am on Sunday (1200 UTC but 1100 UTC in the summer)
I thought flight attendants pay dues for unions to “protect” them, I guess they all pay dues (aka taxes) to the government to “protect” too…in the end sleep is good!
In the EU the rest period in between the days is 10 hrs. This period shall include an 8-hour sleep opportunity in addition to the time for travelling and physiological needs.
Thank the unions for making this situation worse! Biden has NO CLUE about this!
This has nothing to do with politics/unions. This was purely a decision based on science/safety.
As a pilot for a major airline I strongly support this - this is the minimum rest we are required by law as well. The flying public deserves an entire crew that is rested and at the top of their game for those just in case moments.
If only we could place this requirement into other safety jobs.
You couldn't be more wrong. Even with 10 hours of rest it doesn't account for transportation to a hotel, check in, getting food, or unpacking. And your rest period could start at 8 pm one day and 11 pm the next. Sleep is on the company's schedule, not your body clock.
Next time you go to the hospital ask your doctors and nurses about their working conditions and how much sleep they get
Government megalomania. It worked until now, why change? We need to end these kind of laws.
What is the safety benefit. How many people have died in the last 20 years due to the old rules. Zero.
This was passed during the Trump administration, why this is just now being implemented as if Biden is the hero? This has been a change flight attendants have been fighting for a long time and is still not clearly written in addressing the time rest begins, (30 min after block in is not realistic). International or long haul flights are typically more taxing on the body and the regs for those flights be addressed. Crew rest in flight does not count. Charter airlines are some of the worst when it comes to scheduling crews.
This was passed during the Trump administration, why this is just now being implemented as if Biden is the hero? This has been a change flight attendants have been fighting for a long time and is still not clearly written in addressing the time rest begins, (30 min after block in is not realistic). International or long haul flights are typically more taxing on the body and the regs for those flights be addressed. Crew rest in flight does not count. Charter airlines are some of the worst when it comes to scheduling crews.
Derek, you would start crying like a baby and panic for your momma if an emergency happened on a flight you were on!
Exactly what we need to see, more rude and obnoxious over paid under worked hard done by crew hogging the loungers by the pool as they speak crudely about their last passengers and quaff hard liquor. It was once a pleasure to watch the stewardesses gracefully bask in the sun by the hotel pool but not these ones. Work a little harder please and put a smile on your surely face
Do you know any doctors that cross several timezones in a given day or try to sleep in three different beds, in three different cities on a four day shift (trip)?
100%. Nothing should ever change. Everything should stay exactly the same, forever. And on top of that, why are my servants being treated like human beings. I fly because I want to feel a feeling of control over other people's lives and I enjoy their misery. Things like allowing them to get a full night sleep ruins that for me.
What a stupid opinion. People like you are the most entitled brats on the planet, angry that people are getting an extra hour of rest so they can actually get some sleep. I wish they would bar you and condemn you to a life of Greyhound busses everywhere you go.
It’s actually worse. It’s dealing with the general public up close and personal in a metal tube 30,000 + feet in the air! Safety for the flight attendants themselves starts when that door closes. Not just for their passengers but for themselves as well.
They should just do away with F/A's and have a couple of big dudes to keep order. F/A's are the laziest, overpaid, parasites on the planet.
This rule was the result of a mandate from congress and was included in the 2018 FAA reauthorization act which included many other things, including authorization and funding for the FAA itself. Trump had no choice but to sign it. Once signed the mandate was slow walked by the FAA until the Biden Administration made it a higher priority.