AFS

- 16

- 0480

- E Exemption No. 15332

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of

United Airlines , Inc. R egulatory Docket No. FAA

- 2015

- 4360

for an exemption from § § 121.465(b)(1) and 121.465(b) (2)

o f Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated October 13, 2015, Mr. Michael Quiello, Vice President of Corporate Safety

and p art 119 Director of Safety, United Airlines, Inc. (United), 233 South Wa c ker Drive, Floor 16, Chicago, IL 60606

, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of United for an exemption from § 121.465(b)(1) and (2) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). The proposed exemption, if granted, would allow United Airlines to schedule an aircraft dispatcher for more than 10 consecutive hours of duty for the purpose of completing the operating familiarization required by § 121.463 and to become familiar with long

- range flight operations.

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulation:

Section 121.465

, Aircraft dispatcher duty time limitations: Domestic and flag operations.

Section s 121.465(b)(1) and (2) state that e xcept in cases where circumstanc es or emergency conditions beyond the control of the certificate holder require otherwise

, (1) n o certificate holder conducting domestic or flag operations may schedule a dispatcher for more than 10 consecutive hours of duty; and ( 2) i f a dispatcher is sch eduled for more than 10 hours of duty in 24

consecutive hours, the c ertificate holder shall provide him or her a rest period of at least eight

hours at or before the end of 10 hours of duty.2

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

The petitioner states that, a s part of United's FAA

- approved training program, a ircraft

d ispatchers must satisfactorily complete operating familiarization that fulfills the requirements of § 121.463 to obtain and retain qualification to perfor m di spatch functions for flights in any areas of en

- route operation that are authorized by its Operations Specifications. The petitioner adds that, d ue to the length of some flight segments, the operat ing familiarization duty period m ay exceed 10 consecut ive hours. United seeks relief from the duty limitations of § 121.465 in order

to enable the a irc raft dispatcher to complete the entire assignment.

The petitioner states that United ' s Network Operations has analyzed the safety and compliance

risks associated with this exemption and determined it provides for a level of safety that meets or exceeds the level of safety currently provided for in the applicable regulation. The petitioner

asserts that there is no impact on flight safety during the famil iarization operation period because

the aircraft d ispatcher is observing flight operations, not dispatching aircraft. The petitioner

further states that a level of safety at least equal to that provided by the rule which the petitioner

seek s an exemption from is established for post

- operating familiarization dispatcher duties by requiring a rest period of at least 8 hours after an operating familiarization duty period exceeds 10 hours and before assumption of dispatcher duties. As such, the petitioner con tends that a rest period of at least 8 hours is equivalent to the rest period requirement in § 121.465.

The petitioner states that, utilizing United’s S afety Management System (S MS ) risk matrix protocol, a risk ranking of 1A

- Limited has been assigned in co nsideration of the following:

• The e xemption to the duty time limitations of § 121.465 meets the published guidance of the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee Training and Qualification Issue
Area, Air Carrier Working Group Task 3

– Crew Resource Man agement

.

• By limiting the application of the exemption to training scenarios involving operating familiarization, there is no flight safety risk associated with the extended duty period.

• For an operating familiarization flight segment that exceeds 8 hours, a seat in the aircraft

cabin is blocked for the aircraft dispatcher’s use as a rest area.

• When scheduled for a duty period that exceeds 10 hours under the exemption, the aircraft dispatcher will be provided a rest period of at least 8 hours prior to the ne xt duty assignment.

The petitioner stipulates that the requested exemption from the limitations in § 121.465 will only be applied to the operating familiarization activities in which the duty assignment exceeds

10 hours. The petitioner further specifies that the exemption will not be applied to classroom, dispatch desk

- related training, performance of traditional aircraft dispatcher duties of flight

p l anning, flight release, exercise of operational control, or flight monitoring. In addition, the petitio ner highlights that aircraft dispatchers covered under the requested exemption will be provided a rest period of at least 8 hours prior to their next duty assignment.

The petitioner states that if an exemption is granted, its Network Operations will implem ent its provisions, conditions and limitations by:3

• Documenting the exemption’s application, conditions, and limitations in the Dispatch Operations Manual, Dispatch Scheduling Reference and Procedure Manual, and the Dispatch Training Manual.

• Fully brief Dis patch leadership and PAFCA safety representatives regarding the exemption’s application, conditions, and limitations.

• Network Operations will monitor operating familiarization and application of the exemption through its SMS processes.

The petitioner state s that a grant of exemption is in the public interest because it promotes dispatcher proficiency and protects against dispatcher fatigue; which in turn advances aviation safety.

A summary of the petition was published in the Federal Register on December 03 , 2015 (80 FR 75700). No comments were received.

The FAA's analysis is as follows:

The FAA finds that the information provided by the petitioner supports the relief sought by United Airlines. However, the equivalent level of safety proposed in the petition is not adequate to ensure an aircraft dispatcher receives adequate rest prior to the next duty assignment following operating familiarization of more than 10 hours, for the following reasons:

1. The 8 h our rest period proposed in the petition, following duty in excess of 10 hours, does not account for the time it would take for a dispatcher to disembark the airplane, complete passage through Customs and travel back home or to a suitable

accommodation at which the dispatcher could receive actual rest.

2. The petition does not address the time the aircraft dispatcher would spend traveling back to home base after having completed operating familiarization

. This time is considered to be spent in Deadhead tra nsportation. The FAA has already determined by rule (See part 117 Definition of Deadhead Transportation and §§ 121.491 and 121.519) that time spent in Deadhead transportation is duty and cannot be counted as rest. Although this determination has been est ablished within the scope of flightcrew member duty and rest requirements, the factors considered in making the determination apply to any airman subject to duty and rest requirements and who spends time engaged in Deadhead transportation.

Although United has proposed to block a seat in the aircraft cabin for use as a rest area by the aircraft dispatcher undergoing operating familiarization on a flight segment that exceeds 8 hours,

the FAA finds that this does not relate to any mitigation of the rest requi rement found in § 121.465. Since any time the aircraft dispatcher spends onboard the flight is considered to be duty, the dispatcher is on duty even when sitting in a se at blocked off as a rest area.

To bridge the gap between what United proposes and the FAA’s established standards for flightcrew member rest, the FAA has determined that a minimum of a 10 hour continuous, uninterrupted rest period, during which the aircraft dispatcher is free from all restraint by the certificate holder, including freed om from present responsibility for work should the occasion4

arise, would be required prior to assignment to any duty outlined in Condition No. 1 of this exemption. Rest must be on the ground and cannot be onboard an aircraft.

The FAA’s Decision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, United Airlines Inc. is granted an ex emption from

14 CFR §§ 121.465(b)(1) and 121.465(b)(2) to the extent necessary to allow United Airlines’ to schedule aircraft dispatchers for duty in excess of 10 hours to allow the aircraft dispatcher to complete operating familiarization on international , long

- range flights that are in excess of 10 hours in duration. Although not specifically petitioned for by United Airlines, this exemption applies both inside and outside the United States, because operating familiarization flights with flight times in excess of 10 hours will always require a portion of the flight to be operated outside of the United States. When exercising the privileges of this exemption the following

conditions and limitation s apply:

Conditions and Limitations

1. The certificate holder may not schedule, and an aircraft dispatcher may not accept, an assignment for any duty that involves : P reflight planning, dispatch release or the exercising of operational control and joint authority over initiating, conducting, or terminating a flight, in accordance with the requirements set forth in §§ 121.533 and

121.535

, u nless the aircraft dispatcher is given a rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours on the ground, immediately before beginning th at duty assignment . The rest period may not begin until after the aircraft dispatcher is released from all duty on behalf of the

certificate holder

.

2. The 10

- hour rest period must provide the aircraft dispatcher with an opportunity to receive a minimum of 8 uninterrupted hours of re st.

3. A certificate holder may not schedule, and an aircraft dispatcher may not accept

, any duty contrary to the conditions and limitations of this exemption, when conducting operations in accordance with the privileges contained herein.

This exemptio n terminates on March 31, 2018

, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 10, 2016.

/s/ John Barbagallo Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service