On December 2, the House passed, by voice vote, the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act (S. 1422). The Senate passed the bill on November 10 (see The Source, 11/13/09); the House passed similar legislation (H.R. 912) in February (see The Source, 2/13/09).
Sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the legislation would clarify the Family and Medical Leave Act’s (FMLA) (P.L. 103-3) eligibility requirements with respect to flight crews. Specifically, the legislation would make flight attendants and crews eligible for FMLA benefits if they have worked or been paid for at least 60 percent of the minimum number of hours their employer has agreed to schedule or pay them for a given month for the previous 12-month period, and they have worked or been paid for at least 504 hours not including personal commute time or time spent on vacation, sick, or medical leave during the previous 12-month period.
Current law covers employees who have worked for their employer for 12 months and have 1,250 hours of service during the previous year, a requirement that is difficult for flight crews and attendants to fulfill given the method in which they are scheduled for duty.