CAPA Letter to Congress – Support for Extending Part 117
The following letter was sent to the leaders of Congress by CAPA President Harvey Meeks.
Dear Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Chairman Graves, & Ranking Member Larsen:
Re: Support for Extending Part 117 Fatigue Protections to All-Cargo Operations
On behalf of the member unions of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA), we respectfully urge you to support legislation extending the flight time and duty limitations contained in 14 CFR Part 117 to all-cargo airline operations. CAPA represents independent pilot unions across passenger and cargo aviation. Many of our members operate safely under Part 117; others remain under an outdated framework that provides weaker fatigue protections.
Fatigue is a documented aviation safety hazard that degrades performance in every cockpit. Cargo and passenger aircraft share the same airspace, airports, aircraft types, and responsibility to protect the National Airspace System. Maintaining two fatigue standards for fundamentally similar Part 121 operations creates an unnecessary safety gap. Every airline pilot should receive the same science-based
fatigue protections, regardless of whether the aircraft carries passengers or cargo. For these reasons, CAPA and its member unions strongly support eliminating the cargo carve-out and establishing one fatigue standard for all Part 121 airline operations.
We respectfully ask you to support and advance H.R. 7526, the Safe Skies Act, that eliminates this safety gap and delivers one consistent level of protection for all Part 121 airline operations. Fatigue rules should be based on operational risk—not on whether an aircraft carries passengers or cargo.
Thank you for your attention to this important aviation safety issue. We welcome the opportunity to work with your office to advance uniform, science-based fatigue protections for all airline pilots.
Respectfully,
Harvey Meek, President
Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations
