January 3, 2011

U.S. Department of Transportation Docket Management System

400 7th Street Southwest

Room PL-401 Washington D.C. 20590-0001

Ladies/Gentlemen: In accordance with the provisions of 14 CFR 11, Subpart A, Comair Inc. (COMA005B) requests an extension to exemption 8837 from 121.434(c)(1)(ii) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). This extension, would permit Comair Inc. to con tinue our very successful program of substituting a qualified and authorized check airman in place of an FAA inspector to observe a qualifying Pilot in Command (PIC) while that PIC is perfor ming prescribed duties during at least one flight that includes a takeoff and a landing when completing initial or upgrade training as specified in FAR 121.424. This substitution would only occur at the discretion of the POI and only when an FAA inspector is not immediately available, subject to certain conditions and limitations.

SECTIONS OF THE FAR AFFECTED Section 121.434(c) (1) (ii) (Operating Experience, Operating Cycles, and Consolidation of Knowledge and Skills) in pertinent part:

“In addition, if a qualifying pilot in command is completing initial or upgrade training specified in FAR 121.424, be observed in the performance of prescribed duties by an FAA Inspector during a flight leg that includes a takeoff and landing.”

NATURE AND EXTENT OF RELIEF REQUESTED:

This extension seeks continued relief from FAR 121.434 (c)(1)(ii) when an FAA inspector is unavailable to observe a qualifying pilot in command during any of the scheduled operating experience flights. This exemption would continue to be subject to the following conditions and limitations:

1. Comair Inc. will submit to its POI an estimate of the number of PICs completing training and a plan of how IOE will be conducted. The plan would be submitted to the POI prior to beginning IOE by qualified check airmen.

2. Comair Inc. will nominate only qualified check airmen to perform IOE observation, and the FAA will approve the qualified check airmen to conduct the observations through a letter of

authorization.

3. The requirement of FAR 121.434 (c)(1)(ii) will be considered fulfilled if the observation is performed by an FAA-authorized check airman. The observation requirement will be documented in the qualifying pilot’s record.

4. The authorized check airman observing the qualifying pilot will be a check airman other than the one who is conducting the operating experience flights and will not have previously conducted any operating experience flight during the current initial or upgrad e training of the qualifying PIC.SUPPORTING INFORMATION Background: The original purpose of FAR 121.434(c)(1)(ii), issued in early 1970 was to validate the training a pilot received in a visual simulato r. Since that rule was adopted, the airline indust ry had 10 years experience with visual simulators followed by over 20 years experience with advanced simulation. The airlines have successfully trained tens of th ousands of pilots using sophisticated advanced simulators. The combined experience of the ai rline industry and the FAA with advanced simulation has made the present rule obsolete.

Justification:

1. Continued Better use of FAA resources At Safety Summit I, sponsored by the Department of Transportation and the FAA, one of the recommendations from the Training Issues Wo rking Group was to allow the substitution of a qualified company check airman to provide the FAA observation when an FAA inspector was not available. This allows the FAA to target its pers onnel on those areas deserving higher priority and attention, and thus provide a more cost effectiv e use of an inspector’s time. The Safety Summit I

recommendation has been endorsed at all levels of the FAA as an action that would clearly benefit

the FAA and the airlines.

2. Continued Reduced Training Delays and Associated Costs Delays in using a qualifying PIC for line operations that occur when the airline is forced to wait until the FAA can observe the qualifying PIC are costly. Comair anticipates a requirement to train approximately 20 new PICs each month. COMAIR has experienced periods where FAA manpower and resources have been limited, resulting in the POI’s inability to provide the necessary inspectors to perform initial operating experience (IOE) observations in a timely fashion. The resulting extension of time required to qualify a PIC creates additional costs to Comair as well as the potential for scheduled pa ssenger flights to cancel due to lack of PICs.

3. An Equivalent or Higher Level of Safety will Continue To ease the burden on APM’s other FAA inspector s are sometimes called upon to perform initial observations, however they may not be qualified on the airplane type flown or familiar with the airline’s operating procedures or routes. Utilizing a qualified company check airman who is highly qualified in the airplane to complete th e observation guarantees more careful scrutiny of the PIC’s performcance than can be obtained from an observer who is not qualified in the aircraft. Thus, equivalent or even higher levels of safety are assured.

4. Continues to Provide a Reduced Training Burden Compounding the problem for PICs who are waitin g for FAA observation is the effect it may have on the PIC’s ability to accomp lish the required 100 hours in 120 days to comply with the “Consolidation of Knowledge and skills” under FAR 121.434. Not only may the PIC consolidation period be extended through no fault of his/her own, but the operator would be required to provide refresher training and/or su pervised line operations before the PIC may serve again on that particular aircraft. This would be disruptive to the PIC and costly to the operator.

5. No Reduction in FAA Oversight The FAA has the authority to observe any pilot at any time, which the FAA routinely does. Relieving FAA inspectors from FAR121.434(c)(1)(ii) would allow the FAA to focus its efforts on higher priority safety concerns. Additionally, FA A will approve the selection of all check airmen and oversee their training a nd continuing qualification.

6. Conditions and limitations of the current exemption will remain the same. Comair will continue to use the conditions and limitations granted with the original exemption request of: 1. A Comair check airman or aircrew program designee may conduct a

PIC observation in place of an FAA inspector when—a. The Administrator preapproves that substitu tion for each observation of a qualifying PIC candidate, thus reserving first right of refusa l to the FAA in each cas e. Comair, therefore must contact an appropriate FAA office, in e ach instance, before substituting that check airman or aircrew program designee.

b. The qualifying PIC candidate has completed no less than 10hours of supervised operating experience (OE) and accomplished no fewer than two takeoffs and landings; and

c. The qualifying PIC candidate is performing PIC duties during a complete flight leg, including flightdeck preparation, before starting engi nes checklist, taxi, takeoff, all other flights phases, landing, taxi, and securing checklist.

2. Each Comair check airm an and aircrew program designee cond ucting a PIC observation in place of an FAA inspector must—

a. Be approved by the Administrator to conduct the observation,

b. Have served as a check airman or aircrew program designee for Comair for no less than 6 months, and

c. Not supervise the OE or conduct the initial line check for the qualifying PIC candidate being observed.

3. Comair must maintain student, check airman, and aircrew program designee records that demonstrate compliance with the conditions and limitations of this exemption.

PUBLIC INTEREST: Continued Granting of this petition would permit: 1. The FAA greater flexibility and better use of its inspection force by focusing on higher priority safety functions;

2. Comair to ensure greater schedule integrity by significantly increasing the availability of qualified pilots, improving the airline’s ability to redu ce flight cancellations and provide on-time, dependable air service to the public; and,

3. Comair Inc. to reduce the unnecessary cost of wages and lost productivity for those qualified pilots waiting for the FAA observation. These cost f actors directly influence the price of air travel by the public.

NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON SAFETY This request is predicated on the precautions proposed in the conditions and limitations under the “Nature and Extent of Relief Requested”, the “Supporting Information” and “Public interest” discussion listed above which, when considered in their entirety, will provide at least an equivalent level of safety as provided by the existing rule while improving the ability of Comair Inc. to provide air service to the public with greater economic benefits to the public, FAA and Comair Inc.

The continued use of this exemption would have no adverse effect on safety for the following reasons.

1. The authorized check airman will continue to be highly trained and experienced with the particular airplane type and will be approved by the FAA;

2. The check airman would continued to be used to fu lfill the requirements of 121.434 (c)(1)(ii) only when an FAA inspector is not available;3. The FAA will continue to have the authority to observe any pilot at any time during line operations; and

4. The proposed conditions and limitations associated with this exemption provide the FAA with ample opportunity to observe initial and upgrade PI Cs for the purpose of validating the Comair Inc. training. They also provide a quality control mechanism for evaluating the Comair Inc. designated check airman program.

In accordance with the provisions of 14 CFR 11, Exceptions to Pub lication of Summary of Petition for Exemption, Comair Inc. requests that a finding of good cause be made for waiving publication in the Federal Register. The exemption, if granted, wo uld not set a precedent and a delay in granting the requested extension would not be in the public interest. Comair Inc. therefore requ ests that the publication and comment period be waived. It is noted that th ree similar exemptions (Reg ulatory Docket No. FAA2006-26326, effectiv e December 5, 2006, Regulatory Docket No . FAA-2006-25827, ef fective October 31, 2006, and Regulatory No. FAA-2006-26039, effective October 23, 2006) have been granted in the past to

other airlines.

As required by 14 CFR 11, a summary if this petitio n is attached. Please inform me if you require any

additional information to evaluate or act on this extension..

Sincerely,

Kenneth B. Baell

Chief Pilot

Comair, Inc.

cc: James Wohlhueter (Comair, Inc. POI)

Attachment ATTACHMENT: Comair Inc. Petition to Initiate Rulemaking (FAR 121.434)

SUMMARY Comair Inc. Petition to Initiate Rulemaking to FAR 121.434(c)(1)(ii). Comair Inc. petitions the Administrator to initiate rulemaking to amend portions of section 121.434(c)(1)(ii) to permit Comair Inc., when an FA A inspector is not immediat ely available to provide observation of a qualifying PIC when completing initial or upgrade training as specified in FAR 121.424, to substitute a qualified and authorized check airman to observe the qualifying pilot in command in the performance of prescribed duties subject to certain conditions and limitations.