Kelley Interpretation Letter - 121.436

[Cpt Cook]

This rule is crazy. At my previous airline, we flew ATRs for FedEx and Hawaiian. We had an FO on the Hawaiian side that had a whole bunch of Shorts 330/360 PIC time (all cargo) and wanted to upgrade to captain. The FAA looked at it and said "no, because the time is not carrying passengers." So he reapplied for an exemption saying he would instead upgrade to the FedEx side carrying only boxes (but still part 121). They said "we already said no, this is no different." It's not???

This cracked me up. I was thinking I might find something that would allow an exemption to the rule if they were only flying 121 cargo ops. Apparently not. Interesting that the FAA would exempt 121 cargo ops from the rest requirements, but not this.

 

[xdashdriver]

Please let us know. This is one of the more absurd rules that anyone who has ever flown different airplanes around would never have been able to come up with.

After 15 months, the FAA finally granted my exemption today. If anyone else is in my shoes and wants help navigating the exemption process, let me know. I'm more than happy to help.

 

[ppragman]

After 15 months, the FAA finally granted my exemption today. If anyone else is in my shoes and wants help navigating the exemption process, let me know. I'm more than happy to help.

What did you get a waiver for specifically?

 

[xdashdriver]

I have prior 121 PIC experience, but wasn't a PIC on July 31, 2013, so I couldn't take advantage of the built-in exemption. The way they wrote the rule (and interpreted it) meant that none of my prior 121 PIC counted, only the SIC. I have less than 1,000 hours SIC, so I asked for an exemption to be able to count my previous 121 PIC time towards the 1,000 hours needed to be PIC again.