Air-Cargo Flights Should Follow Same Safety Standard as Passenger Flights
Lower safety and security standards for air-cargo threatens public safety
The latest: Airlines that fly only cargo use the same types of aircraft, take off from the same airports, use the same airspace, fly over the same cities, and pose many of the same risks to public safety as passenger aircraft. But these “all-cargo” flights aren’t required to follow the same safety and security regulations as commercial airlines.
The issue: Federal regulations governing cargo air operations establish a lower safety and security standard for all-cargo flights:
- No intrusion-resistant cockpit doors (IRCD)
- Weaker security screening for non-flight crew members.
- Lower standards for pilot fatigue and rest.
What’s needed: Legislation to establish safety and security standard for “all-cargo” flights at the same level as passenger aircraft.
Dive deeper: Here are three major vulnerabilities from less stringent air-cargo safety and security standards:
- Crews are unprotected while in flight. Without intrusion-resistant cockpit doors (IRCD), an air-cargo flight crew is not secure. After 9/11, hardened flight deck doors were mandated on passenger airliners. But most all-cargo aircraft were exempted and many lack any level of flight deck doors.
- Air-cargo crews are allowed to fly while fatigued. When the FAA addressed pilot fatigue in 2011, the new rules only applied to passenger operations — all-cargo operations were exempt. This creates a safety hazard in the air and for those on the ground. As one former NTSB official has observed, "a tired pilot is a tired pilot, whether there are 10 paying customers on board or 100, whether the payload is passengers or pallets.”
- Insufficient background checks for air-cargo passengers. Even though air-cargo passengers are seated directly behind the pilots, and have access to the flight deck, they do not receive the same level of security screening as flight crew members. Air-cargo flights do carry passengers, during the transportation of large animals, which require handlers who carry lethal tranquilizers.
Essential legislation: The Cargo Flight Deck Security Act of 2021 would address one of these lapses, greatly enhancing the safety and security of all-cargo flights. It requires:
- Installation of hardened flight deck doors on aircraft used in all-cargo operations that separate pilots and passengers.
The bottom line: “For far too long, there has been two standards when it comes to air safety and security,” said Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA president. “This bill will apply similar security protocols to both cargo and passenger flights, offering protection to pilots, cargo, and citizens in communities on the ground and flying in our shared airspace.”
