It seems intuitive that having airline pilots who aren’t fatigued would be optimal for both passengers and carrier owners—not to mention the men and women in the cockpits. But it wasn’t regulated until today, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a landmark ruling that addresses jetlag and requires pilots to fly shorter shifts and get longer rest periods.

A February 2009 Colgan Air crash in upstate New York that killed 50 people due to two exhausted pilots—coupled with years of lobbying by safety advocates—were the catalysts for the FAA to make these changes, the most extensive updates to the existing flight, duty and rest regulations that largely date back to the 1960s.

The new rules take research on circadian cycles and jetlag into consideration and apply to certificate holders and their flight-crew members operating under 14 CFR Part 121, which applies to the majority of flights flown by the U.S. public. Cargo carriers are currently exempt.

Highlights of the changes include:

• The maximum Flight Duty Period (FDP) a pilot can be scheduled for is limited to between nine and 14 hours, depending on the time shifts begin and how many time zones will be crossed. This time now includes time spent commuting to work, wait times and administrative duties.
• The maximum number of hours a pilot can be scheduled at the controls is limited to eight or nine, depending on start time.
• The length of continuous time off during a seven-day period has been extended from 24 hours to 30 hours. Additional time off is required for individuals whose internal clock may be off because of traveling back and forth between different time zones.
• Minimum rest periods are now 10 hours between each FDP, a two-hour increase over previous rules. The pilot must have an opportunity for eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.
• With a two-hour nighttime sleep opportunity each night, pilot performance improves sufficiently to allow up to five nights of consecutive nighttime operations.
• Carriers can create an alternative Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) of processes to manage and mitigate fatigue and meet an equivalent level of safety. It must be approved by the FAA and regularly monitored.
• Carriers’ Fatigue Risk Management Plans for fatigue-related education and training, mandated by Congress in 2010, must be updated every two years.

Airline companies have two years to adapt to the new rules.

According to the filing, “[t]he underlying philosophy of the rule is that no single element of the rule mitigates the risk of fatigue to an acceptable level; rather, the FAA has adopted a system approach, whereby both the carrier and the pilot accept responsibility for mitigating fatigue.” In other words, pilots also are responsible for making sure they get the adequate rest they need during their off hours.

The FAA estimates the costs of the rules at $297 million, but with benefits valued at $247 to $470 million. Additional details can be found in the 314-page ruling on the FAA website.

Photo: Adpowers (flickr)

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Location, Location, Location: Delta Sets Up Domestic Hub at NY’s LaGuardia
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Delta Air Lines’ new domestic hub out of LaGuardia Airport will bring major changes to travel options into and out of New York City and affect the competitive landscape for domestic carriers.

Delta's LaGuardia expansion brings its number of total flights out of New York to more than 400.

The airline is adding 100 flights to 29 new cities, bringing it to a total of 264 flights out of LaGuardia and more than 400 out of the New York City area when adding the 140 flights it operates out of John F. Kennedy International Airport and nearby Newark Liberty International Airport.

The move was enabled by a slot swap with US Airways at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington.

Delta is marketing this as a particular boon to business travelers. New destinations will include Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Charlotte, Denver, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Cleveland. Delta will be moving into Terminal C and making $140 million in renovations, including a new Sky Club and a 600-foot connector to its older home in Terminal D.

In “celebration” of the announcement, the Atlanta-based airline announced a fare sale beginning in March, including $49 one-way flights to Buffalo and Rochester and $99 to Miami. Asked how the expansion would affect fares in the longer term, Delta’s Gail Grimmett, senior vice president, New York, said at a press conference on Friday, “This is a very competitive market and we do want to be the carrier of choice in New York.”

The move gives Delta a more convenient New York hub than rival United Airways has at Newark, and it poses a major challenge to American Airlines, which entered Chapter 11 in November.

Delta says that it will optimize flights for international routes at JFK, where its presence is set to grow when that airport’s Terminal 4 expands in 2013.

Photo: Delta Airlines

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From unseasonably warm weather to unreasonably expensive lift tickets, circumstances outside your control can quickly put a damper on a planned weekend of skiing. But now there’s an app that aims to help winter sports enthusiasts hunt down the best powder for the best price.

The free iPhone and iPad application from Liftopia, an online marketplace for ski and snowboard trips, lets consumers search for ski-resort deals, check weather conditions and map trips to ski resorts all over the United States.

Compare ski conditions at area resorts with Liftopia's new mobile app.

By its own count, Liftopia has information on 150 ski areas and offers lift tickets at up to an 80 percent discount off of window ticket prices.

The Liftopia Ski Reports, Snow Conditions and Ultimate Lift Ticket Deal Engine for iPhone and iPod touch lets users save their favorite resorts and research current weather, information on depth of snow, amount of fresh snow, and open trails and lifts. They can also view resort-specific information including photos, amenities and number of runs for different ability levels. And when they find the best deal with the best weather conditions, they can reserve lift tickets right from their phone.

Now if only there was an app that could actually make it snow.

Photo: Liftopia Blog

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Travel, loyalty and payment-solutions provider ezRez Software, Inc., has acquired Topguest, a startup company that provides loyalty and social networking products to travel companies. Both businesses are based in San Francisco. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Topguest, which just launched in 2010, allows members of travel-loyalty programs, such as United MileagePlus, Continental One Pass, IHG Priority Club and Hilton HHonors, to earn reward points for geo-located check-ins via their mobile devices. By enabling direct links to Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram and Twitter, Topguest travelers can more quickly build their reward balances and receive exclusive offers and bonuses for simply using social media. For example, a Virgin America Elevate member waiting to board a flight can check-in on Foursquare and earn bonus Elevate points.

Topguest recently announced a white-label product that will enable traditional loyalty programs to implement a fully branded social network component. Based on data derived from their members’ social networking activity, loyalty programs can target and customize offers that are relevant to each member. The white-label product is currently in beta with select Topguest partners.

ezRez, founded in 2003, offers a white-label software platform that runs points programs and digital wallet products. To date, the company has raised $17 million in funding from Canaan Partners and Azure Capital Partners and others.

The combined company will offer a SaaS-based technology platform for loyalty programs that will manage how program members earn and redeem loyalty points, which can be earned through Topguest’s social engagement tools and ezRez’s existing travel booking platform for airlines, hotels and online travel agencies.

Points can be redeemed for travel via ezRez’s loyalty-travel platform or for merchandise via ezRez’s new digital-wallet product—announced in October with inaugural partners PayPal and United MileagePlus—that allows members to use points to pay for merchandise and services across the Internet. The new product will launch in 2012.

All Topguest employees are joining the ezRez team and will continue to operate Topguest.com and its white label B2B loyalty platform under the current brands.

Photos: ezRez and Topguest

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