April 2 7 , 2015

Docket Management Facility US Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE West Building Ground Floor
Room W12

- 140 Washington, DC 20590

Re : Request for Exemption ; 1 4 CFR 61.159(a)(3)

Petitioner : Seaborne Virgin Islands, Inc., d.b.a. Seaborne Airlines by its Vice President of Operations John B. Guest

Petitioner’s Contact Information : 268 Muñoz Rivera Ave.

, 9th floor San Juan

, PR 00918 (787) 946

- 7800 bguest@seaborneairlines.com

Background : Seaborne Virgin Islands, Inc., doing business as Seaborne Airlines

, holds Air Carrier Certificate Number: S9BA675J and has operations specifications authorizing it to conduct domestic, flag and supplemental
operat ions in the islands of the Caribbean. Seaborne Airlines provides vital and essential passenger service from Puerto Rico to 16 destinations in the Caribbean using the Saab 340 Turbo Prop

.

In addition, Seaborne Airlines provides scheduled passenger operations using the seaplane configuration of
the DeHavilland DHC

- 6

- 300 between St. Thomas, VI (SPB) Charlotte Amalie Harbor and St Croix, VI (S S B) Christiansted Harbor. This seaplane operation provides essential air service to the people of the U

. S

. Virgin
Islands. In the year 2014, Seaborne Airlines carrie d 70,000 passengers between these two stations.
Sea borne Airlines is the only Part 121 air carrier using seaplane operat ions i n the United States and

, to our knowledge

, the world.

Nature and Extent of the Requested Relief : After August 2014, certain regulatory changes now require Part 121 f irst officers to hold an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with the appropriate category, class and type rating (when applicable). In addition, 1 4 CFR 61.159, “Aeronautical Experience: Airplane Category Rating ,” now require s , in part, that an applicant for an Airline Transport Pilot certificate must have 50 hours of flight time in the class of airplane for the rating sought.

Seaborne Airline is easily able to staff the ATP pilot needs for the Saab 340 aircraft (land plane) . H owever,
t he new requirement in Part 61.159(a)(3) for an applicant for an Airline Transport Pi lot certificate, Airplane Multi

- engine Sea to have 50 hours of experience in multi

- engine seaplane s reduces the available pool of qualified ATP multi

- engine seaplane a pplicants to almost nil. Simply put, there are not enough ATP qualified multi

- engine seaplan e pilots available for Seaborne Airline s to staff its seaplane operation with

Page 1 of 4ATP first officers

. The e ffect has been that Seaborne Airlines has had to reduce its essential seaplane air service to the seaplane ports named above because of the unavailability of ATP rated seaplane pilots

.

As a result, Seaborne Airline is requesting relief from the regulatory requirement listed in the next paragraph.

Relief Sought from Regulatory Sections : **Seaborne Airline s**  **is requesting partial**  **relief from 14 CFR**  **61.159 (a)(3)**  “ **50 hours of flight time in the class of airplane for the rating sought.”**  **( The provisions of the exemption request appl**  **y only**  **to the applicants for an**  **ATP Multi**

**- Engine Sea**  **certificate**

**. )** 

Seaborne Airlines proposes to hire appropriately rated pilots and qualify them in our DeHavilland DHC

- 6

- 300 s ea plane using the FAA Approved Seaplane Training Program

. This training would include no less than (10) ten hours of actual flight time in the DeHavilland DHC

- 6

- 300 s eaplane. Then under the terms of the exemption, ATP candidates for Airplane Multi

- engine Sea could apply for the practical test with a minimum of (10) ten hours of Multi

- Engine Sea flight time.

Seaborne Airlines proposes that the exemption relief from 61.159(a)(3) woul d allow in part;

**“ 10 hours of flight time in the DeHavilland Seaplane.”** 

Once the airman has successfully completed training under the terms of the exemption , the pilot would
then apply to the FAA or Examiner to take the practical test for an Air Transport Pilot certificate

– Multi

Engine Sea . Upon successful completion of the test, the applicant would be issued an ATP Multi

- Engine Sea
certificate that contain s the following restrictions:
1. ATP Multi

- Engine Sea plane privileges l imited to VFR Day operations

. 2. Holder is prohibited from serving as Pilot

- in

- C ommand in air carrier operations.

T he exemption would allow Seaborne Airlines to assign the holder of this restricted ATP Multi

- Engine Sea
certificate as First Officer. This airman would the n complete the Operational Experience requirement of 14
CFR Part 121.434 under the supervision of a Check Airman in accordance with Seaborne Airlines ’ FAA Approved Training Program consisting of not less tha n ( 50 ) fifty hours of seaplane time.

The exemption would contain a provision that the holder of the restricted ATP certificate could make application to have the restriction removed by presenting acceptable documentation to the FAA that he/she had obtained (50) fifty hour of flight time in multi

- engine sea planes.

Equivalent Level of Safety : The Equivalent Level of Safety will be provided in two (2) areas.

Firstly, seaplane activities have unique characteristics that substantially reduce the complexity of flight operations that are normally associated with the all

- weather and cold weather operations typical of most
air carrier’s environment. The most notable are:

• All seaplane operations are limited to daylight hours.

• T here are no instrument approach capabilities to the seadromes Seaborne Airlines serves.

• A ll take offs, approaches and landings must made in visual meteorological conditions (VMC).

• The seaplane activity is limited to the two (2) seadromes listed in the “Background” paragraph

.

• The two (2) seadromes lis ted are not subject to groun d or inflight icing conditions.

Page 2 of 4The second factor in providing the E quivalent L evel of S afety involves the limitations placed on the holder of the restricted Airline Transport Certificate and Seaborne Airlines ’ pilot training plan involving these
airmen as first officers. These factors are as follows :

• ATP Applica nts will receive a restricted ATP Multi

- Engine Sea certificate.

• Airman’ s restricted ATP Multi

- Engine Sea certificate is limited to VFR , Day

.

• Airman’s r estricted ATP Multi

- Engine Sea certificate prohibits him/her from serving as Pilot

- in

Command in air carrier operations.

• First Officers with a restricted ATP Multi

- Engine Sea must fly under the supervision a Seaborne
Airline s’ Check Airman

.

Analysis : In the wake of the United States Congress passing Regulations and Laws affecting the S afety of Flight for
121 airlines in the United Stat es, created a set of rules that, in part, included experience and time in aircraft for ratings sought for 121 airlines. Unfortunately, the rulemaking did not envision the pilot shortage for the only Part 121 scheduled seaplane operation s in the United States.

Seaborne Airlines has been the leadi ng authority on 121 scheduled s eaplane flying for the last 21 plus

years . Given Seaborne Airlines ’ vast experience

, our assessment is th e 50

- hour flight time limit p laced on an airman prior to being eligible to obtain a n ATP add

- on s eaplane rating has created an extreme hardship for prospective 121 seaplane pilots and Seaborne Airlines. Furthermore, we believe that in this instance,
the rule as Congress had intended had an unanticipated effect on our ability to crew our seaplanes

.

Benefit to the Public Interest : Should Seaborne Airlines fail to obtain an exemption as requested, the airline will be forced to conduct operations in accordance with regulatory requirements with lesser safety standards , specifically Part 135

. This will create a significant hardship for the passengers and would impact operations on the lifeline between the U.S. Virgin Islands. If Seaborne Airlines is unsuccessful in obtaining the requested exemption, the shortage of qualified aircrew members will force a major reduction in scheduled service on the seaplane. Ultimately many of our passengers would be forced to fly on Part 135 "9 or less" piston powered aircraft or worse, single pilot/single engine aircraft over open water

. Th is would be an u nintended consequence of the requirement of this regulation

.

Seaborne Airlines ' seaplane operation between St. Thomas and St. Croix is one of extreme importance to the economy of the Virgin Islands. Currently, Seaborne Airlines carries approximately 70,000 passengers annually between St. Croix, VI and St. Thomas , VI. Without our frequent and convenient flights operating safely under Part 121

- many aspects of this strategically vital part of the United States would grind to a
halt. This matter is on e of grave importance to air commerce in the Virgin Islands

. Therefore, we believe that granting of this exemption

, which provides passengers with continued access to turb o

- propeller powered twin engine aircraft operating at the highest level of safety, i s in the public interest.

Summary for Publication in the Federal Register : Seaborne Virgin Islands, Inc., doing business as Seaborne Airlines

, holds Air Carrier Certificate Number: S9BA675J and has operations specifications authorizing it to conduct domestic, flag and supplemental operations in the islands of the Caribbean. Seaborne Airlines provides vital and essential passenger service from Puerto Rico to 16 destinations in the Caribbean the Saab 340 Turbo Prop

.

In addition, Seaborne Airlines prov ides scheduled passenger operations using the seaplane configuration of
the DeHavilland DHC

- 6

- 300 between St. Thomas, VI (SPB) Charlotte Amalie Harbor and St Croix, VI (S S B) Christiansted Harbor. This seaplane operation provides essential air service to t he people of the U

. S

. Virgin

Page 3 of 4Islands. Seaborne Airlines is the only Part 121 air carrier using seaplane operator in the United States an d

, to our knowledge

, the world.

Seaborne Airline s is easily able to staff the ATP pilot needs for the Saab 340 aircraf t (land plane). However, the new requirement in Part 61.159(a)(3) for an applicant for an Airline Transport Pilot certificate, Airplane Multi

- Engine Sea to have 50 hours of experience in multi

- engine seaplanes reduces the available pool of qualified ATP mu lti

- engine seaplane pilots to almost nil. Simply put, there are not enough ATP qualified multi

- engine seaplane pilots available for Seaborne Airline s to staff its seaplane operation with
ATP first officers. The affect has been that Seaborne Airlines has had to reduce its essential seaplane air service to the seaplane ports named above because the unavailabi lity of ATP seaplane pilots.

As a result, Seaborne Airline s is requesting partial relief from the flight experience requirements of 14 CFR 61.159(a)( 3).

Conclusion : Seaborne Airli nes believes that the level of safety that was intended by the United States Congress and FAA can be maintained by the restrictions and limitation s provided in the exemption request.

Seaborne Airlines cannot over emphasize the importance of this issue to the government and citizens of the United States Virgin Islands. On behalf of our employees, customers and the peoples of the Virgin Islands

, I wish to thank you in advance for your careful consideration of this request for exemption. 

# John B. Guest

Seab orne Airlines

– Vice President of Operations

(787)946

- 7800 bguest@seaborneairlines.com

John B. Guest | Vice President of Operations Seaborne Airlines | 268 Muñoz Rivera Avenue, 9 th Floor | Hato Rey, Puerto Rico 00918 (e) bguest@seaborneairlines.com |787

- 946

- 8403 (w) www.seaborneairlines.com

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