10 Hour Rule

In my Air Products days, I had projects in such garden spots as Dothan, AL, Parkersburg, WV, and East St Louis, IL. The first step in getting there was an early morning flight from ABE to Atlanta, Pittsburgh, or Chicago and a quick transfer to another plane. Remarkably, Allegheny Airlines (predecessor to USAir which is now part of American) served a hot breakfast on that 45 minute flight between ABE and PGH. There was none of today’s “take off your shoes and belt” stuff either in that Golden Era of Air Travel.

The planes for those early morning flights arrived the night before. At 6 AM, the last thing that passengers wanted to hear was, “Your flight will be delayed until 7:30 to allow sufficient rest for the crew. They arrived here very late last night.”

“Great. I’ll never make that connecting flight in Chicago now. I may have to stay overnight in South Bend (and I have no underwear packed).”

FAA regulations mandated that pilots get 10 hours between flights. It made sense. You don’t want a sleep-fogged brain hurtling you toward a landing at 550 mph.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 extended that mandatory 10 hour rest period to flight attendants as well. “Flight attendants perform critical safety roles on behalf of the flying public and have long deserved the same rest periods afforded to pilots.”

Cranky Old Ed would disagree. I will risk a sleep-fogged brain swerving that beverage cart down the aisle. If my morning flight was delayed and I missed a connection because the flight attendants didn’t get their beauty rest, I’d be pissed.

The Trump Administration felt the same way. It refused to implement the 10 hour rest period for flight attendants, not that Donnie, Melania, or the kids have ever flown commercial. Pick and choose the laws you want to enforce, Donnie. Your superior brain can eliminate laws “just by thinking about it.”

This being an election year and the flight attendants’ union withholding their “campaign donations”, the 10 hour rule was implemented yesterday.

Airlines warn passengers to arrive three hours early for flights. Now they may also warn passengers to pack extra underwear as well.

By Ed Dufton

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