II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3421 

To require air carriers to provide all flight attendants with scheduled rest 

periods of at least 10 consecutive hours between duty periods and to 

comply with fatigue management plans for flight attendants that have 

been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BROWN, 

and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require air carriers to provide all flight attendants with 

scheduled rest periods of at least 10 consecutive hours 

between duty periods and to comply with fatigue management plans for flight attendants that have been approved 

by the Federal Aviation Administration. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FLIGHT ATTENDANT DUTY PERIOD LIMITA4 TIONS AND REST REQUIREMENTS. 

5 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 30 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of TransVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Oct 01, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3421.IS S3421

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1 portation shall modify the flight attendant duty period 

2 limitations and rest requirements under section 121.467 

3 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to require that— 

4 (1) all flight attendants scheduled to a duty pe5 riod of 14 hours or less are given a scheduled rest 

6 period of at least 10 consecutive hours; and 

7 (2) the rest period referred to in paragraph 

8 (1)— 

9 (A) is not reduced under any cir10 cumstances; and 

11 (B) occurs between the completion of the 

12 scheduled duty period and the commencement 

13 of the subsequent duty period. 

14 (b) FATIGUE RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

15 (1) SUBMISSION OF PLAN BY PART 121 AIR CAR16 RIERS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act, each air carrier operating 

18 under part 121 of title 13, Code of Federal Regula19 tions (referred to in this subsection as a ‘‘part 121 

20 air carrier’’), shall submit a fatigue risk manage21 ment plan for the carrier’s flight attendants to the 

22 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administra23 tion for review and acceptance. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—Each fatigue risk 

2 management plan submitted under paragraph (1) 

3 shall include— 

4 (A) current flight time and duty period 

5 limitations; 

6 (B) a rest scheme that is consistent with 

7 such limitations and enables the management of 

8 flight attendant fatigue, including annual train9 ing to increase awareness of— 

10 (i) fatigue; 

11 (ii) the effects of fatigue on flight at12 tendants; and 

13 (iii) fatigue countermeasures; and 

14 (C) the development and use of method15 ology that continually assesses the effectiveness 

16 of implementation of the plan, including the 

17 ability of the plan— 

18 (i) to improve alertness; and 

19 (ii) to mitigate performance errors. 

20 (3) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

22 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall— 

23 (A) review each fatigue risk management 

24 plan submitted under this subsection; and 

25 (B)(i) accept the plan; or 


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1 (ii) reject the plan and provide the part 

2 121 air carrier with suggested modifications to 

3 be included when the plan is resubmitted. 

4 (4) PLAN UPDATES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

6 than once every 2 years, each part 121 air car7 rier shall— 

8 (i) update the fatigue risk manage9 ment plan submitted under paragraph (1); 

10 and 

11 (ii) submit the updated plan to the 

12 Administrator for review and acceptance. 

13 (B) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date on which an updated plan is submitted 

15 under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Administrator 

16 shall— 

17 (i) review the updated plan; and 

18 (ii)(I) accept the updated plan; or 

19 (II) reject the updated plan and pro20 vide the part 121 air carrier with sug21 gested modifications to be included when 

22 the updated plan is resubmitted. 

23 (5) COMPLIANCE.—Each part 121 air carrier 

24 shall comply with its fatigue risk management plan 


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1 after the plan is accepted by the Administrator 

2 under this subsection. 

3 (6) CIVIL PENALTIES.—A violation of this sub4 section by a part 121 air carrier shall be treated as 

5 a violation of chapter 447 of title 49, United States 

6 Code, for the purpose of applying civil penalties 

7 under chapter 463 of such title. 

Æ 


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