› Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements for Air Carrier Operations:
Effective immediately, compliance required by Aug. 1, 2013
—A second in command (first officer) in domestic,
flag, and supplemental operations must now hold an airline transport pilot certificate and an
airplane type rating for the aircraft to be flown. Pilots with fewer than 1,500
flight hours may qualify for a restricted privileges airline transport pilot certificate beginning at
21 years of age if they are a military-trained pilot, have a bachelor’s degree with an aviation
major, or have an associate’s degree with an aviation major.
This restricted privileges airline transport pilot certificate allows a pilot to serve
as second in command in domestic, flag, and supplemental operations not requiring more than
two pilot flightcrew members.
This rule also retains the second-class medical certification
requirement for a second in command in part 121 operations.
›Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements; FAA Clarification- MAR. 2013 —On April 5, 2012, the FAA published
a notice explaining the procedures for
submitting clarifying questions
concerning these flight, duty, and rest
regulations.1
Since then, the FAA
received numerous questions
concerning the new regulations. This is
a response to those questions.
›Prohibition of personal devices on the flight deck The proposed rule would
prohibit flightcrew members in
operations under part 121 from using a
personal wireless communications
device or laptop computer for personal
use while at their duty station on the
flight deck while the aircraft is being
operated. This rule, which conforms
FAA regulations with recent legislation,
is intended to ensure that certain non-
essential activities do not contribute to
the challenge of task management on the
flight deck or a loss of situational
awareness due to attention to non-
essential tasks.
*Excerpt*
What an employer (current or previous) is required to furnish regarding the airman:
Only furnish records from the past
5 years; you must not furnish a record entered more than 5 years before the date of the PRIA
request, unless the information concerns a revocation or suspension of an airman certificate or
motor vehicle license and the revocation or suspension is in effect on the date of the request. You [employer]
must respond to the requestor (the hiring employer) within 30 calendar-days of receiving the
records request, and provide records regarding:
a. Pilot Performance. Furnish records pertaining to the individual’s performance as a
pilot, including:
(1) Initial and recurrent training records.
(2) Records concerning qualifications, proficiency, or professional competence of the
individual, including comments and evaluations made by a check airman designated under
§ 121.411, § 125.295, or § 135.337. For example, documents that show the individual’s
qualifications as instructor/evaluator, check airman, or examiner; and records of the individual’s
proficiency checks (recurring checks for captain, first officer, or line checks).
(3) Records of any disciplinary action(s) that the employer did not subsequently
overturn, if these disciplinary actions pertained to the individual’s performance as a pilot.
(4) Any release from employment or resignation, termination, or disqualification of the
individual with respect to employment.
b. Disciplinary Actions that Resulted in Termination of Employment. Report any
disciplinary actions you took against the pilot that played any role in the individual’s termination
or release from employment.
c. Disciplinary Actions Involving Pilot’s Performance. Only report disciplinary actions
unrelated to an individual’s termination or release from employment if the actions involved the
individual’s performance as a pilot and the employer did not subsequently overturn them. You
should not report other employment-related actions that have nothing to do with the pilot’s
aeronautical duties that resulted in a disciplinary action, but did not result in discharge or
termination.
Pilot's Bill of Rights - Requires National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) proceedings for the review of decisions of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to deny, amend, modify, suspend, or revoke an airman's certificate to be conducted, to the extent practicable, in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence. Requires the Administrator to:
(1) advise the subject of an investigation involving the approval, denial, suspension, modification, or revocation of an airman certificate of specified information pertinent to the investigation; and
(2) provide him or her with access to relevant air traffic data.
Allows an individual to elect to file an appeal of a certificate denial, a punitive civil action, or an emergency order of revocation in the U.S. district court in which individual resides, in which the action in question occurred, or the district court for the District of Columbia. Allows an adversely affected individual who elects not to file an appeal in a federal district court to file such appeal with the NTSB. Directs the Administrator to begin a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) Improvement Program to improve the system of providing airmen with pertinent and timely information before a flight in the national airspace system.
Makes Flight Service Station briefings and other air traffic services performed by Lockheed Martin or any other government contractor available to airmen under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Requires the Administrator to review the FAA system for the medical certification of airmen in order to:
(1) revise the medical application form,
(2) align medical qualification policies with present-day qualified medical judgment and practices, and
(3) publish objective medical standards to advise the public of the criteria determining an airman's medical certificate eligibility.