SWIFT IS AIR.uc 

•J^p.lENTOF 

February 4, 2011 ' -y;:p-JttTON ^ 

Docket Management Facility 

U.S. Department of Transportation ^- ._ (• U2 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

West Building Ground Floor 

Room W12-140 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

To whom it may concern: 

Swift Air, LLC requests relief from Section 121.434(cXl)(ii) of Title 14, Code of Federal 

Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent necessary to permit the company to substitute a 

qualified and authorized check airman in place of an FAA inspector to observe a 

qualifying pilot in command (PIC) while that PIC is performing prescribed duties during 

at least one flight leg that includes a takeoff and a landing when completing initial or 

upgrade training as specified in Section 121.424. 

Our research of the original intent of Secfion 121.434(c) (1) (ii), issued in early 1970, was 

to validate the training a pilot received in a visual simulator. Since that rule was adopted, 

the airiine industry has had over 30 years of experience with visual simulators and 

advanced simulation. As matter of fact, the airlines have successfully trained tens of 

thousands of pilots using sophisticated advanced simulators. We believe the advanced 

simulation experience of the airline industry combmed with that of the FAA has made the 

present rule obsolete. 

We are forecasting 9-21 new PICs in the next 6 months. These training requirements 

and the fact that we do many charters all over the world can cause major problems trying 

to get FAA support. In the past, we have experienced meaningfijl delays because of 

limited inspector availability. The limited inspector resources have caused cancellation of 

scheduled OE observations and at times have exacerbated our attempts to achieve an 

orderly and efficient training flow. Based upon past experience, this could produce 

significant delays in the training pipeline and major operational shortfalls. 

We recognize the manpower constraints imposed upon the FAA and that the POI has had 

to use resources fi-om the FAA system to satisfy some of our requests. This has been an 

acceptable option; however, the results have been inconsistent and unreliable. Recently, 

the Company had operational and economic impacts involving pilots in training because 

an FAA PIC observation was canceled. There have been other instances involving pilot 

in command training that have negatively affected the Company. Specifically, pilots 

could not assume their new status as PIC because they were in queue waiting for FAA 

support to accomplish operating experience observations. If this continues, we forecast 

delays that will have a significant economic and operational impact. 

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SWIFT 5§ AIR.uc 

We believe that the FAA has the authority to, and routinely does, observe any pilot at any 

time. I would add that the FAA conducts these routine observations on a schedule that the 

local office sets without the burden of having to observe a particular pilot on specific 

tlights necessitated by the airline's training and service schedule. Swift Air contends that 

relievmg the FAA inspectors of their obligation to observe pilots as required under 

Section 121.434(c) (1) (ii) would allow the FAA to focus its efforts on higher priority 

safety concerns. 

As a matter of fact at past Safety Summits, sponsored by the Department of 

Transportation and the FAA, one of the recommendations from the Training Issues 

Working Group was to allow qualified company check airman to provide the FAA 

observation when an FAA inspector is not available. This would allow the FAA to target 

its personnel on those areas deserving higher priority and attention providing a more costeffective use of an inspector's time. This recommendation has been endorsed at all levels 

of the FAA as an action that clearly would benefit the FAA and airlines. 

We also believe this proposed exemption would be in the public interest. If approved this 

exemption it would allow: 

1. The FAA greater flexibility and better use of its inspection force by focusing on 

higher priority safety ftmctions; 

2. Swift Air to use a qualified pilot immediately after completing OE; 

3. Swift Air to significantly increase the use of qualified pilots and improve its 

ability to provide on-time, dependable air service to the public; and 

4. Swift Air to reduce the unnecessary cost of wages and lost productivity for those 

qualified pilots waiting for the FAA observation. 

Swift Air believes this proposed exemption would have no adverse effect on safety for 

the following reasons: 

1. All authorized check airman would be highly trained and experienced with the 

particular airplane type and would be approved by the FAA; 

2. All check airman would be used to fiilfill the requirements of Section 121.434(c) 

(1) (ii) only when an FAA inspector is not available; and 

3. The FAA has the authority to observe any pilot at any time during line operations. 

Furthermore, in some instances, it could be possible the FAA inspector performing the 

observation may not be qualified in the airplane being flown or knowledgeable of the 

company's procedures. By allowing a company check airman who is highly qualified in 

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SWIFTS AIR...c 

the airplane to complete the observation, a greater level of scrutiny and objectivity would 

be provided for the qualifying PIC. 

The exemption if granted would be subject to the following proposed conditions and 

limitations: 

1. Swift Air would submit to its POI an estimate of the number of PICs completing 

training and a plan of how OE observations would be conducted. The plan would 

be approved by the POI before a qualified check airman began an OE observation. 

2. Swift Air would nominate qualified check airmen to perform the OE observation, 

and the FAA would approve the qualified check airmen to conduct the 

observation through a letter of authorization. 

3. The requirement of Section 121.434(c) (1) (ii) would be considered ftilfilled if the 

observation is performed by an FAA-authorized check airman. The observation 

requirement would be documented in the qualifying pilot's record. 

4. The authorized check airman would be a check airman other than the one who is 

conducting the OE flights of the qualifying pilot. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Captain Richard Bell 

Director of Operations 

Swift Air, LLC 

E-mail: rbell@swiftaviationgroup.com 

Direct Telephone Contact: 602.432.0699 

2406 SOUTH 24^STREET SUITE E 102 PHOENIX AZ 85034