UPDATE: Crew rest lawsuit

BusinessWeek magazine published a non-subscription article about the lawsuit brought by a group of airlines against the FAA last month.

The airlines say that the Federal Aviation Administration bypassed usual rule-making procedures and denied them the right to comment before it notified American Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. of the new rules in late October.

The petition was filed Dec. 24 in the federal appellate court in Washington by American, Continental, UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, US Airways, JetBlue and two smaller carriers.

In their filing, the airlines said the new requirements would saddle them with “substantial burdens and costs.” They charged FAA did not show how the rules would improve safety.

It’s interesting that JetBlue joined the suit, given that it doesn’t currently serve destinations outside the Americas. US Airways is adding flights to Tel Aviv in 2009 and has said it wants to serve Asian destinations from Philadelphia in the future.

AA, CO sue FAA over proposed crew rest rules

The Wall Street Journal reports (article is subscription only; brief summary here) that American Airlines and Continental Airlines have sued the FAA over a proposal that would raise the minimum rest time for flight deck crew on “ultra long-range flights.” Pilots who work these routes, defined as 16 hours or longer, must currently rest 24 hours between flights; the proposal would require 48 hours.