SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

Leslie C. Abbott
Senior Attorney
1901 L Street, N.W., Suite 640
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 263

- 6285
( 202) 263

- 6291

- Fax

leslie.abbott @wnco.com

_______________________________________________ _____________________________

July 23, 2013

VIA EMAIL

John M. Allen Director, Flight Standards Service

Federal Aviation Administration

AFS

- 1, Flight Standards Service, Room 821 800 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20591 john.allen@faa.gov

FILED ELECTRONICALLY U.S. Departmen t o f Transportation

Docket M anagemen t Sy stem

1200 N ew J ersey Avenue

R oo m W12

- 140 Washington, DC, 20590

Re: Petition for Relief from 14 CFR § 121.436( d ) ; Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements for Air Carrier Operations;

Docket No. FAA

- 2010

- 0100

Dear Sir:

Pursuant to Federal Aviation Regul ation 14 CFR 11.61(b), Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest) hereby petitions the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for limited relief from the Final Rule it enacted on July 15, 2013 entitled Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements for Air Carr ier Operations

. Among other changes, the Final Rule imposes significant new training requirements on pilots employed in second

- in

- command positions (first officers)

. Southwest is prepared to meet all of the new requirements except with respect to certain aspects of 14 CFR 121.436(d) as described below.

Compliance with the requirements set forth in 14 CFR 121.436 is required by August 1, 2013 in most cases. However, in recognition of the training resources that will be required for airlines to meet the n ew training standards, the Final Rule provides for an extended compliance period, until January 1, 2016, for pilotsPetition for Relief from 14 CFR 121.436(d)

July 23, 2013

Pa ge 2

currently employed in second

- in

- command (SIC) positions. See 14 CFR 121.436(d). Southwest respectfully requests that the FAA apply this ex tended compliance period to its pilots that are currently in pilot

- in

- command (PIC) positions ( e.g. , PIC on B717 aircraft) but will be transitioning to second

- in

- command positions on different aircraft ( e.g. , SIC on B737 aircraft). Southwest requests that the FAA give this petition for relief expedited treatment in light of the upcoming August 1, 2013 compliance

deadline.

I. Background

On July 15, 2013, the FAA published a Final Rule that created new certification and qualification requirements for pilots in air carrier operations. 1 One of the new requirements is that the second

- in

- command pilot in domestic, flag, and supplemental operations must hold an airline transport pilot certificate and an airplane type rating for the aircraft to be flown. In recog nition of the significance of these new requirements, the Final Rule provides an extended compliance date in certain situations. Specifically 14 CFR 121.463(d) states:

“ Compliance with the requirements of this section is required by August 1,

2013. Howe ver, for those pilots who are employed as second in command in part 121 operations on July 31, 2013, compliance with the type rating requirement in paragraph (b) is not required until January 1, 2016. ”

The preamble of the Final Rule indicates that the FA A recognizes the impact of the type rating requirement on air carriers and provides an extended compliance period for “those pilots who are employed as second in command in part 121 operations on July 31, 2013...” However, by limiting the compliance extensi on period to only the second

- in

- command pilots, another similarly situated group of pilots was not considered, i.e. , pilots who are currently in pilot

- in

- command positions but who may be transitioning to a second

- in

- command position on another aircraft.

T his is typically a very limited occurrence. However, in these instances Southwest hereby respectfully petitions the FAA for the same relief as the Final Rule provides for currently employed SIC pilots.

II. SOUTHWEST ’S SALE OF ITS B717 FLEET WILL RESULT IN S EVERAL

HUNDRED B717 PICS TRANSITIONING TO B737 SIC POSITIONS IN

THE NEXT EIGHTEEN MONTHS

.

Southwest Airlines acquired AirTran Airways in 2011 and successfully obtained a Single Operating Certificate in March of 2012. While Southwest operate s
an exclusiv e ly B737 fleet, AirTran operate s a mixed fleet of 52

- B737 (approx. 700 pilots) and 88

- B717 aircraft (approx. 1000 pilots). As part of the acquisition process,

1 The full text of the Final Rule can be found at 78 Fed. Reg. 42324 (July 15, 2013)

.Petition for Relief from 14 CFR 121.436(d)

July 23, 2013

Pa ge 3

the Southwest and AirTran pilot unions negotiated a seniority integration agreement which requir es that all AirTran pilots transition to Southwest by January 2015.

At the time of the agreement, Southwest envisioned that the AirTran B717 and B737 fleets would eventually be absorbed by Southwest into a larger mixed fleet

of aircraft. This vision incl uded folding both the AirTran B717 and B737 pilots and

aircraft into Southwest at a measured pace over time. However, after its acquisition of AirTran, Southwest subsequently entered into an agreement with Delta Air Lines whereby Delta will be leasing the enti re B717 fleet from Southwest starting in July 2013. All of the B717 will be transitioned to Delta by December 2014. This business arrangement has changed the timing and the training plan for B717 p ilots flowing into Southwest, which now must be accelerat ed to align with the schedule of the

B717 aircraft moving to Delta.

Under the current schedule, AirTran B717 pilots will transfer to Southwest and complete an initial conversion training course to become qualified as a second

- in

command B737 pilot. One half of these B717 pilots are Captains and several hundred of them are not type rated on the B737 aircraft. Accordingly, without the relief requested here, these PIC pilots would be required to obtain a B737 type rating in order to serve as a SIC after July 3 1, 2013.

III. SOUTHWEST ’S TRAINING LOAD BETWEEN JULY 2013 AND

DECEMBER 2014 IS ALREADY AT FULL CAPACITY WITH THE

AIRTRAN INTEGRATION.

Pursuant to its labor agreements, Southwest must convert a total of 1300

- B717/B737 AirTran pilots to Southwest between July 1, 2013 and the end of December 2014. Training such a large number of pilots over such a short time period is unprecedented for the Company and will require the full utilization of Southwest’s training facilities and personnel. It would be exceedingly d ifficult for Southwest to add the full SIC type rating efforts required by 14 CFR 121.436 into this schedule during this timeframe

.

In addition, because Southwest only hires new pilots who already possess a B737 type rating, the Company only has three Aircrew Program Designees (A PD’s). These APD’s are typically used to admin ister flight instructor PIC

- type ratings and SIC only

- type ratings. Compliance with the Final Rule without the relief requested here would therefore also require the training of additional APD’s which would ne ed to be authorized by the FAA.Petition for Relief from 14 CFR 121.436(d)

July 23, 2013

Pa ge 4

IV. SOUTHWEST REQUESTS RELIEF FROM 14 CFR 121.436(d) FOR ITS

CURRENTLY EMPLOYEED PIC PILOTS THAT WILL TRANSITION TO

SIC POSITIONS ON DIFFERENT AIRCRAFT.

For all of the reasons discussed above, Southwest respectfully requests that the FAA grant it relief from the requirements of 14 CFR 121.436(d) by providing the Company’s currently employed PIC pilots with the same extended compliance period as provided to the currently employed SIC pilots. There would be no

decrease in the level of flight safety if the relief requested here were provided

. However, this relief would lessen an unnecessary burden on airline training facilities and personnel , thereby contributing to a smooth transition process and full compliance with the new Final Rule requirements

.

We appreciate the FAA’s consideration of this request.

Respectfully submitt ed,

___________________ Leslie C. Abbott

cc: Robert Burke (FAA)