Captain James Courtney:

Short-term stand-by is something that has been going on for many years. Europe had not introduced regulations in this area, particularly on home stand-by, until these new regulations came into play. In consultation with all stakeholders - authorities, pilots and airlines - it came up with what I think is a good set of regulations. These have tightened up significantly on some of the states' existing regulations because each state effectively regulated itself in the area of stand-by. I believe it is quite well done.

Some people asked about the short-term call-out. I have done stand-bys for 20 years. I am effectively at home and not up, in uniform and ready to go to the airport, but could be sleeping at night. A pilot is given time to prepare to go to the airport and then do his or her duty. While that is not tiring, stand-bys done at the airport can be. I am delighted that the regulations in that area have been considerably tightened up. In some other states there were no regulations defining where crew members on stand-by should be. The new regulations now clearly stipulate the type of accommodation, which must be away from the general public and have quiet areas for resting etc. I welcome the new regulations because prior to this there were no tight regulations on the matter.

There have been regulations on multiple take-offs and landings for as long as I can remember. Those regulations have not changed considerably and in fact they have been tightened up, particularly those relating to night operations. While it might look somewhat complicated from a pilot's point of view, a very good table has been produced. This outlines every hour a pilot works and reduces it if it starts heading into night duties. The rule associated with reducing the maximum flight time from the third sector onwards of 30 minutes is a long-standing arrangement that has never caused any issues.