
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 30, 1995                   TAG: 9506300029
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AIR TRAFFIC

A FUNNY thing happened to the commuter airline industry on its way to embracing tighter safety regulations. Some of the affected companies found out how much they were going to cost, and started lobbying to weaken them.

After 15 people died in a crash of an American Eagle commuter plane last December that apparently was caused by pilot error, the Regional Airline Association concurred that small commuter planes - aircraft with fewer than 31 seats - should meet the same level of safety as big planes. Only then would passengers' fear of flying in small planes be allayed. The association was right.

If not in every particular, the regulations for small commuter lines should be tough enough to ensure that passengers on a large plane or small are equally likely to have a safe landing. The Federal Aviation Administration apparently thought so, too, and set about writing new rules that are to be finalized around the end of the year.

But, faced with what they fear will be big added costs and counting, perhaps, on the public's short memory of disasters, some of the commuter carriers are asking the FAA to lower key standards that major airlines have to meet. For example: limiting pilot flying time to 1,000 hours a month.

Pilots of some commuter jets fly up to 1,200 hours. Industry lobbyists argue that the longer working hours haven't been linked to added risks, but safety experts cite fatigue as a common cause of pilot error.

American Eagle, which had two fatal crashes in less than two months last year, is supporting the proposed tighter rules, while USAir Express, which serves Roanoke, has objected to only one minor aspect, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The FAA should hang tough on the major rules changes. New regulatory requirements are not in vogue in Washington these days. But in Roanoke and similar markets - where commuter airlines have become essential for convenient travel and the choice of carriers is limited - political dogma matters less than the impact that rules, or their absence, have on everyday life. The public must be able to count on air travel that not only is affordable and convenient, but safe.

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB