[Peetwo]

ASAP FRMS? - Apparently not when it comes to Cabin Crew - 

Via the Oz:

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Cabin crew ‘forgotten by CASA’



FAAA international division secretary Teri O’Toole. Picture: Adam Yip


12:00AM FEBRUARY 14, 2020

 9 COMMENTS
Flight attendants say they are working up to 18 hours with just four 20 minute breaks because the regulator has failed to deliver a fatigue risk management system for cabin crew.


As pilots consider legal action against the Civil Aviation Safety Authority over a new system, the Flight Attendants Association of Australia is wondering what has happened to the regulatory protection for their members.

FAAA international division secretary Teri O’Toole said it appeared CASA had not allocated any resources to researching fatigue experienced by cabin crew — “aviation’s first responders”.

“It does appear from the FAAA’s interactions with CASA that they are now only listening to the airlines without any questions or scepticism, and are not willing to listen to the view of the frontline in passenger aviation,” Ms O’Toole said.

“An example of this is CASA’s decision to shelve a project to develop regulation to prevent cabin crew fatigue at the suggestion of the airlines.”

She said cabin crew were never included in the process that pilots experienced, with trials of a new fatigue risk management system not extended to crew members on the same flights.

“This is because there are no CASA regulations for cabin crew and we were not required to be considered,” said Ms O’Toole.

“The reality is that regardless of how well the pilots land in a non-routine situation, the responsibility shifts to cabin crew to ensure the safety of passengers who need to evacuate in these circumstances. It is imperative crew are at their peak level of alertness.”

She said for international cabin crew, a majority of the work patterns involved day flights out of Australia and overnight flights on return.

“On an ordinary 18-hour flight, a cabin crew member will only be entitled to 20 minutes of rest in the first six-hour period, and 20 minutes of rest every four-hour period after that. The total rest would be 80 minutes for 18 hours of work,” Ms O’Toole said.

A CASA spokesman said the regulator was satisfied that airlines were safely managing fatigue-related issues in all areas of their operations.

“At this point CASA is focused on the final steps of the transition to the new fatigue management rules for flight crew (pilots),” he said. “Once these are bedded down, CASA can consider other areas including air traffic controllers, engineers and cabin crew.”

He said CASA recently met with the FAAA.

A Qantas spokesman said the airline always focused on the health and safety of crew and managing fatigue, particularly when operating long international flights or multiple domestic flights.

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From the (last recorded) CASA ASAP minutes??: ref - https://www.casa.gov.au/about-us/working...ember-2019 &/or https://www.casa.gov.au/files/asap-meeti...ember-2019 (Hmm..for some passing strange reason the CASA web link summary does not appear to match the actual PDF minutes, which were bizarrely amended more than 4 months after the September ASAP meeting -  ) 

5.3 Proposal to establish a TWG on Cabin Crew Fatigue

Mr Crawford proposed to establish a TWG on Cabin Crew Fatigue and noted that the proposal was
raised at the ASAP meeting on 22 November 2018. He informed the Panel that CASA has not formed a view on how Cabin Crew Fatigue should be managed, however he explained that Australia has an obligation to to meet its ICAO compliance responsibilities. Mr Crawford acknowledged that there is always an industrial factor, but also pointed out that in establishing the fatigue management rules (CAO 48.1) for Flight Crew all of the relevant stakeholders were involved i.e. airline operators, pilot associations and the regulator and he proposed adopting the same approach for developing the Fatigue Rules for Cabin Crew, Air Traffic Controllers and Maintenance Engineers. The ASAP discussed the relative priority of conducting a project on cabin crew fatigue when compared to other industry personnel, such as engineers and air traffic controllers. The Panel
also questioned whether there are matters of higher priority for CASA to explore considering the relatively low safety risk associated with cabin crew fatigue. There were also concerns raised about the cost of unnecessary regulation associated with this proposal.

This was the ASAP recommendation in regards to the possibility of establishing a TWG for a Cabin Crew FRMS...


Hmm...and when you look at the latest membership list of the ASAP why do I question the integrity of that particular ASAP recommendation? - FFS! 

CASA Aviation Safety Advisory Panel

• Prof. Pat Murray – Chair
  
  
  
• Adrianne Fleming – Founder and Operations Manager, Tristar Aviation
  
  
  
• John Gissing – Group Executive Associated Airlines and Services, Qantas
  
  
  
• Dr Reece Clothier – President Australian Association for Unmanned Systems (AAUS) and Global Airspace Integration Senior Manager Boeing NeXt
  
  
  
• Jim Davis – Chairman, RAAA
  
  
  
• Michael Monck – President, RAAus
  
  
  
• Ray Cronin – Founder and Managing Director of Kestrel, Chief Flying Instructor (Helicopter), current President of the Australian Helicopter Industry Association
  
  
  
• Graeme Crawford – CASA Group Executive Manager Aviation
  
  
  
• Rob Walker – CASA Executive Manager Stakeholder Engagement Division
  
  
  
• Stuart Aggs – Virgin Australia Group Chief Operations Officer
  
  
  
• Mark Thompson – Aviation Australia Technical Training Manager
  

  MTF...P2