FATIGA/Re "F.A.A. to Change Schedule Rules for Controllers" (news article, April 17): The traveling public should know that airline pilots today operate under five-decade-old flight and duty regulations that also threaten safety. After 50 years of failed efforts to update regulations that date from before commercial jets, remarkable progress has been made by the airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration and labor to create new requirements that reflect today's science and airline operations. (Lee Moak/NEW YORK TIMES)
Incredibly, a proposed amendment to the F.A.A. reauthorization bill would exempt some airline operations from these new regulations, which are urgently needed to ensure that airline pilots get the rest they require.
The lightning-fast change to controllers' scheduling makes clear how quickly a fix could occur. With safety at stake, the F.A.A. must end decades of stalemate and act now to put in place standard duty and rest regulations for airline pilots. Cost should be no object when investing in safety. 
LEE MOAK
President, Air Line Pilots Association, International
Washington, April 22, 2011
