Pilots elated over working hours vote
MEPs have voted against new European rules for flying hours in a move welcomed by pilots who claimed the new regulations threatened flight safety .
Today the EU’s transport and tourism committee, by 20 votes to 13, rejected the proposals which would have allowed a team of two pilots to take long-haul flights instead of three.
Pilot's unions had expressed concern that the rules did not account for working hours before a flight had taken off.
They said the changes could have forced a team of two pilots to land a long-haul flight after a 22-hour working day.
The regulations will still be voted on by the full European Parliament in the coming weeks.
Last week, in an incident reported to the CAA, two pilots flying a British-operated Airbus cited extreme fatigue after having only five hours sleep over two days.
Balpa, a UK pilot's organisation, also published a survey last week saying more than half of pilots had fallen asleep during flights.
