Bill Text: AZ HCM2005 | 2018 | Fifty-third Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Flight-hour requirements; rule; waiver
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-03-29 - Transmitted to Secretary of State [HCM2005 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2018-HCM2005-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: flight-hour requirements; rule; waiver |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-third Legislature Second Regular Session 2018
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HCM 2005 |
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Introduced by Representatives Campbell: Stringer, Senator Fann
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A Concurrent memorial
urging the united states congress to allow the united states department of transportation to provide waivers for certain flight-hour training requirements.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
To the Congress of the United States:
Your memorialist respectfully represents:
Whereas, the City of Prescott is an Essential Air Service ("EAS") community; and
Whereas, the United States Congress instituted a requirement following the February 2009 airline accident involving Colgan Air Flight 3407; and
Whereas, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the cause of the crash was pilot error and inability to properly handle the aircraft; and
Whereas, following the crash, Congress implemented a requirement that all second-in-command commercial pilots obtain roughly 1,500 hours of flight time; and
Whereas, the first pilot in command of Colgan Air Flight 3407 had logged 3,379 total hours of flight time and the second pilot in command had logged 2,244 hours of flight time; and
Whereas, the pilots involved in the Flight 3407 crash met all the requirements under the new rule but were unfamiliar with the aircraft that crashed; and
Whereas, the current flight-hour requirement is the same regardless of the aircraft in use; and
Whereas, the current flight-hour requirement emphasizes quantity of flight hours over quality of flight hours; and
Whereas, EAS communities are often small or rural in nature and rely on smaller regional airlines using smaller aircraft, including smaller turboprop or jets, to support their communities; and
Whereas, without these smaller airlines and the pilots to fly the aircraft, rural communities would lose their connectivity to the rest of the nation; and
Whereas, many pilots cannot justify the high cost of education with several years of low salaries and unpredictable schedules to obtain the required 1,500 hours of flight time before being able to advance to a regional or major airline; and
Whereas, the 1,500 flight-hour rule incentivizes many pilots, on achieving the minimum requirement, to work for large commercial airlines in an effort to pay off their student loan expenses instead of remaining in EAS communities; and
Whereas, before the rule's implementation, second-in-command commercial pilots needed only approximately 250 hours of flight time; and
Whereas, the current 1,500 flight-hour rule has reduced the number of pilots working in EAS communities.
Wherefore your memorialist, the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays:
1. That the United States Congress act expeditiously to allow the United States Department of Transportation to provide additional EAS‑specific waivers for the 1,500 flight-hour training requirement to airlines to allow second-in-command commercial airline pilots the flexibility to serve EAS communities.
2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Memorial to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.
