[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3421 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FLIGHT ATTENDANT DUTY PERIOD LIMITATIONS AND REST
REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Rulemaking.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall modify the
flight attendant duty period limitations and rest requirements under
section 121.467 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to require
that--
(1) all flight attendants scheduled to a duty period of 14
hours or less are given a scheduled rest period of at least 10
consecutive hours; and
(2) the rest period referred to in paragraph (1)--
(A) is not reduced under any circumstances; and
(B) occurs between the completion of the scheduled
duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty
period.
(b) Fatigue Risk Management Plan.--
(1) Submission of plan by part 121 air carriers.--Not later
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each
air carrier operating under part 121 of title 13, Code of
Federal Regulations (referred to in this subsection as a ``part
121 air carrier''), shall submit a fatigue risk management plan
for the carrier's flight attendants to the Administrator of the
Federal Aviation Administration for review and acceptance.
(2) Contents of plan.--Each fatigue risk management plan
submitted under paragraph (1) shall include--
(A) current flight time and duty period
limitations;
(B) a rest scheme that is consistent with such
limitations and enables the management of flight
attendant fatigue, including annual training to
increase awareness of--
(i) fatigue;
(ii) the effects of fatigue on flight
attendants; and
(iii) fatigue countermeasures; and
(C) the development and use of methodology that
continually assesses the effectiveness of
implementation of the plan, including the ability of
the plan--
(i) to improve alertness; and
(ii) to mitigate performance errors.
(3) Review.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall--
(A) review each fatigue risk management plan
submitted under this subsection; and
(B)(i) accept the plan; or
(ii) reject the plan and provide the part 121 air
carrier with suggested modifications to be included
when the plan is resubmitted.
(4) Plan updates.--
(A) In general.--Not less frequently than once
every 2 years, each part 121 air carrier shall--
(i) update the fatigue risk management plan
submitted under paragraph (1); and
(ii) submit the updated plan to the
Administrator for review and acceptance.
(B) Review.--Not later than 1 year after the date
on which an updated plan is submitted under
subparagraph (A)(ii), the Administrator shall--
(i) review the updated plan; and
(ii)(I) accept the updated plan; or
(II) reject the updated plan and provide
the part 121 air carrier with suggested
modifications to be included when the updated
plan is resubmitted.
(5) Compliance.--Each part 121 air carrier shall comply
with its fatigue risk management plan after the plan is
accepted by the Administrator under this subsection.
(6) Civil penalties.--A violation of this subsection by a
part 121 air carrier shall be treated as a violation of chapter
447 of title 49, United States Code, for the purpose of
applying civil penalties under chapter 463 of such title.
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