Countdown to new Flight Duty Regulations is on!

For those that have been hiding under a rock for the past several years, they may have missed the battle waging between fatigue science, air operators, industry groups, pilot unions, and others, as the Canadian Aviation Regulations were updated to reflect new flight time, duty time, rest period, and associated regulations.

The new CARs were passed 13 months ago, and will take effect this December (2020) for part 705 operators. In December 2022, they will take affect for all Part 702, 703, 704 operators (with some differences for medevac flights and 702 operations). Given that most of our clients are involved in the flight training industry, they may ask why this is important for them. Well, if you are training CPL students (or prepping for your own ATPL exams) you are going to need to know the new rules!

We've created a guide to help explain the differences - that you can download for free. At the end is a checklist that will cover most flight operations for Canadian pilots as well. We hope this will help you become familiar with the new requirements, and even assist in updating your commercial pilot training programs.

I should also take the opportunity to point out that although flight training operations are not covered by these regulations, a previous version of Advisory Circular 700-045 had a very interesting grid that highlights under what conditions fatigue is generally NOT a safety issue. It may be worth considering this information when scheduling your flight training operations.

If you find this type of information helpful, you may wish to consider taking one of our Flight Instructor Refresher Courses for your next rating renewal, in lieu of a flight test. You'll be brought up to speed on all sorts of changes in our industry.

Ed. Note: The attached file was most recently updated April 5 2024 (rev 5) to reflect changes to the applicable advisory circulars.