I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 14
To amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to provide for the establishment
of limitations on the duty time for flight attendants.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 5, 1993
Mr. MINETA (for himself and Mr. OBERSTAR) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation
A BILL
To amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to provide for
the establishment of limitations on the duty time for
flight attendants.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flight Attendant Duty
Time Act’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ACT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Federal Aviation
Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. App. 1421–1433) is amended by
adding at the end thereof the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 614. DUTY TIME OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS.
‘‘(a) RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.—Not later than 60
days after the date of the enactment of this section, the
Secretary shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding for the
purpose of establishing limitations on duty time for flight
attendants, including minimum rest requirements.
‘‘(b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Except in any case in
which the prohibitions referred to in subsection (c) take
effect, the Secretary shall issue, not later than 240 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, final regula-
tions establishing limitations on duty time for flight at-
tendants, including minimum rest requirements as follows:
‘‘(1) For a domestic flight, a maximum of 14
hours of actual duty time, plus a maximum of 2 ad-
ditional hours spent deadheading to return to the
flight attendant’s domicile, and a minimum of at
least 10 consecutive hours of rest after each duty pe-
riod.
‘‘(2) For an international flight, a maximum of
16 hours of actual duty time and minimum of at
least 12 consecutive hours of rest after each duty pe-
riod.
‘‘(3) For a long-range international nonstop
flight, a maximum period of actual duty time no
more than 4 hours greater than the scheduled duty
time, with a maximum period of actual duty time no
greater than 20 hours, and a minimum consecutive
rest period equal to at least twice the scheduled
flight time.
‘‘(4) For all flight attendants, a minimum of
eight 24 consecutive hour periods of rest at their
domicile per calendar month and at least one 24
hour consecutive period of rest within every 7 days.
‘‘(5) For all flight attendants, at least a contin-
uous 1 hour rest break on any flight scheduled for
8 hours or more of flight time in a designated rest
area.
‘‘(c) MANDATED PROHIBITIONS.—If the Secretary
does not initiate a rulemaking proceeding under sub-
section (a) before the 60th day following the date of the
enactment of this Act or does not issue final regulations
under subsection (b) before the 240th day following such
date of enactment, no air carrier may after such date oper-
ate an aircraft using a flight attendant who has been on
duty more hours, or who has had fewer hours of rest, than
those required by paragraphs (1) through (5) of sub-
section (b).
‘‘(d) 
MODIFICATION
OF
MANDATED
PROHIBI-
TIONS.—The Secretary may issue regulations modifying
the prohibitions contained in paragraphs (1) through (5)
of subsection (b) if the Secretary determines that such
modifications are in the interest of safety and transmits
a copy of the modifying regulations to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and
the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the
House of Representatives. The modifying regulations may
not take effect until the expiration of the 90-day period
beginning on the date of the transmittal of the modifying
regulations to such committees.
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following
definitions apply:
‘‘(1) AIR
CARRIER.—The term ‘air carrier’
means any air carrier which is subject to the provi-
sions of part 121 or part 135 of title 14 of the Code
of Federal Regulations.
‘‘(2) DEBRIEFING TIME.—The term ‘debriefing
time’ means a time period of at least 30 minutes for
domestic flight and of at least 45 minutes for inter-
national flight after the block-in time of the last
flight or segment of a flight.
‘‘(3) DESIGNATED REST AREA.—The term ‘des-
ignated rest area’ means a passenger seat of an air-
craft assigned for crew rest purposes.
‘‘(4) DOMESTIC FLIGHT.—The term ‘domestic
flight’ means any flight or segment of a flight
worked by a flight attendant totally within the 48
contiguous States and the District of Columbia.
‘‘(5) DUTY TIME.—The term ‘duty time’ means
all time worked for an air carrier at any place and
in any capacity and, with respect to flying, shall
begin at the required report time and shall end at
the conclusion of the debriefing time, or when re-
leased by the carrier, whichever is later. Duty time
accrues until the crewmember is given a required
rest period by the carrier. Time spent deadheading,
either on an aircraft or by surface transportation, to
or from an assignment by an air carrier, time spent
ferrying, and time spent attending meetings and
training shall also be considered duty time. Duty
time continues—
‘‘(A) throughout a rest period of a shorter
duration than that contained in subsection
(b)(1), (b)(2), or (b)(3), as the case may be;
and
‘‘(B) during in-flight rest periods contained
in subsection (b)(5).
‘‘(6) 
INTERNATIONAL
FLIGHT.—The 
term
‘international flight’ means any flight worked by a
flight attendant for which a take off or landing is
scheduled outside the 48 contiguous States and the
District of Columbia.
‘‘(7) LONG-RANGE
INTERNATIONAL
NONSTOP
FLIGHT.—The term ‘long-range international non-
stop flight’ means a single nonstop international
flight scheduled for 8 hours or more of flight time.
‘‘(8) REPORT
TIME.—The term ‘report time’
means a time period of at least 30 minutes prior to
the scheduled departure time of the first flight or
segment of a flight in a flight attendant’s duty pe-
riod or the time the flight attendant is required to
report to work, whichever is earlier.
‘‘(9) REST.—The term ‘rest’ means uninter-
rupted time free from all duty.
‘‘(10) SCHEDULED
FLIGHT
TIME.—The term
‘scheduled flight time’ means the elapsed time based
on the time shown in schedules given by an air car-
rier to a travel agent.
‘‘(11) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘Secretary’
means the Secretary of Transportation.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents contained in the first section of the Federal Aviation
Act of 1958 is amended by adding at the end of the matter
relating to title VI the following:
‘‘Sec. 614. Duty time of flight attendants.
‘‘(a) Rulemaking proceeding.
‘‘(b) Final regulations.