United States: Airline Alert: New FAA Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Flight Attendant Rest Requirements

On November 2, 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding flight attendant duty period limitations and rest requirements. The NPRM was mandated by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, 49 U.S.C. §44701, Note at Section 335. In the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, Congress required the FAA to conduct rulemaking to increase to 10 hours the minimum rest period for flight attendants in domestic, flag, and supplemental operations who are scheduled for a duty period of 14 hours or less, and to prohibit the reduction of the rest period under any circumstances.

Currently, 14 C.F.R. §121.467(b)(2) of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) provides that flight attendants scheduled to a duty period of 14 hours or less must be given a scheduled rest period of 9 consecutive hours. The rest period must occur between the completion of the scheduled duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty period. Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. §121.467(b)(3), a carrier may reduce the rest period to 8 consecutive hours if the carrier provides a subsequent rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours that is scheduled to begin no later than 24 hours after the beginning of the reduced rest period.

Under the NPRM, the FAA proposes to amend 14 C.F.R. §121.467(b)(2) to require certificate holders operating under Part 121 of the FARs to provide 10 hours of consecutive rest for flight attendants scheduled for a duty period of 14 hours or less. Under the proposed §121.467(b)(3), the FAA proposes to remove the allowance for a reduction in rest, and instead to include an explicit prohibition stating that a carrier may not reduce the 10-hour rest period.

Certificate holders would be required to comply with the proposed rule upon the effective date, which will be 30 days after the Final Rule is published in the Federal Register. 

Interested parties may submit written comments to the FAA on the NPRM. The comment period is open for 60 days and closes on January 3, 2022. The text of the NPRM is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/11/02/2021-23253/flight-attendant-duty-period-limitations-and-rest-requirements.

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