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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 209 / Tuesday, November 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M30; U.S. Department of Transportation DOT, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12140, West Building, Ground Floor, Washington, DC 205900001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket Operations in Room W12140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 2024932251.
Privacy: In accordance with 5 U.S.C.
553c, DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice DOT/ALL
14 FDMS, which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.
Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at http www.regulations.gov at any time.
Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket or go to the Docket Operations in Room W12140 of the West Building, Ground Floor at 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Daniel T. Ronneberg, Part 121 Air Carrier Operations, Air Transportation Division, AFS220, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591;
telephone 202 2671216; email Dan.Ronneberg@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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I. Executive Summary This proposed rule addresses the requirement of section 335a of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 the FAARA 2018, codified at 49 U.S.C.
44701 note. Section 335a requires the FAA to conduct rulemaking to increase to 10 hours the minimum rest period for flight attendants in domestic, flag, and supplemental operations who are scheduled for a duty period of 14 hours or less; and to prohibit the reduction of the rest period under any circumstances. The FAAs existing regulations require only a 9-hour rest period for these flight attendants which can be reduced to 8 hours in certain circumstances. Consistent with the requirement of section 335a of the FAARA 2018, the FAA proposes to amend 121.467b2 and b3 to require 10 hours of consecutive rest, remove the existing allowance for a
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reduction in rest time, and prohibit the reduction of the 10 hours of consecutive rest time under any circumstances.
II. Authority for This Rulemaking The FAAs authority to issue rules on aviation safety is found in Title 49 of the United States Code U.S.C.. Subtitle I, Section 106 describes the authority of the FAA Administrator. Section 106f vests final authority in the Administrator for carrying out all functions, powers, and duties of the administration relating to the promulgation of regulations and rules.
Subtitle VII, Aviation Programs, describes in more detail the scope of the Agencys authority. Section 44701a4
requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations in the interest of safety for the maximum hours or periods of service of airmen and other employees of air carriers. Section 44701a5 requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations and minimum standards for other practices, methods, and procedure that the Administrator finds necessary for safety in air commerce and national security.
In addition, 49 U.S.C. 44701d1A
specifically states that the Administrator, when prescribing safety regulations, must consider the duty of an air carrier to provide service with the highest possible degree of safety in the public interest. Such authority applies to the oversight the FAA exercises to ensure safety of air carrier operations, including crewmember flight, duty, and rest requirements.
Further, section 335a of the FAARA
2018 Pub. L. 115254, 132 Stat. 3186
Oct. 5, 2018, codified at 49 U.S.C.
44701 note, requires the FAA to amend the flight attendant duty period limitations and rest regulation to increase the minimum rest period for flight attendants in domestic, flag, and supplemental operations who are scheduled for a duty period of 14 hours or less. Section 335a also prohibits reduction of the rest period under any circumstances.
III. Background Flight Attendant Requirements The FAA defines a flight attendant serving in operations conducted under 14 part 121 as an individual, other than a flightcrew member,1 who is assigned by a certificate holder conducting domestic, flag, or supplemental operations to duty in an aircraft during flight time and whose duties include activities related to 1 A flightcrew member is a pilot, flight engineer, or flight navigator assigned to duty in an aircraft during flight time. 14 CFR 1.1.

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ensuring cabin safety.2 Section 121.391
specifies the minimum number of flight attendants required on board a flight, based on maximum payload capacity and seating capacity, for certificate holders conducting passenger-carrying operations under part 121.3
Any person serving as a flight attendant in part 121 operations must complete the training and qualification requirements of part 121 subparts N and O.4 These training and qualification requirements include specific programmed hours,5 as well as airplane type specific knowledge and skill requirements.
Flight attendants are responsible for taking action during emergencies, including administering first aid, conducting aircraft evacuations, responding to inflight fires, managing medical emergencies, and handling passengers who threaten the safety of other passengers or might be unruly or disruptive. They must also be prepared to respond to situations that could threaten the safety of the passengers and the flight, including turbulent air, airplane decompression, and hijackings.
They must know the location of emergency exits, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, flotation devices, oxygen masks, and emergency slides, and check emergency equipment before flight.
They must assess and verify the suitability of passengers that occupy exit seating, brief passengers on safety equipment, evacuation, and crash landing procedures, and ensure compliance with applicable safety regulations.
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ANPRM and Discussion of Public Comments On September 25, 2019, the FAA
published an ANPRM, Flight Attendant Duty Period Limitations and Rest Requirements 84 FR 50349. The FAA
determined that soliciting public input on the regulatory impact of the changes to flight attendant duty and rest requirements codified in Section 335a of the FAARA 2018 was appropriate.
The FAA also intended for the ANPRM
to provide additional avenues for public participation and to inform the FAAs analysis and rulemaking development.
The FAA received 216 comments on the ANPRM. Commenters included many individuals, Airlines for America 2 14

CFR 121.467a.
CFR 121.391 provides that a certificate holder may, however, use more than the required number of flight attendants.
4 14 CFR 121.392.
5 Under 14 CFR 121.421, programmed hours refers to hours of training or instruction in specific subjects, in a flight attendant training program.
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