§ 11. Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Trade when he expects to bring forward legislation concerning flight time limitations, following upon the report of the Committee of the Civil Aviation Authority published in June 1973.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisThe Civil Aviation Authority has conducted wide-ranging. 1214 discussions about the recommendations of the Bader Committee and has prepared drafts of revised legislation and related requirements. It is circulating these drafts to interested parties for comment, and proposals for changes to the legislation will be submitted to my right hon. Friend as soon as this process is complete.
§ Mr. TebbitWhile thanking the Minister for that answer, may I urge upon him the necessity for taking early action? Unless legislation is introduced into the House this year it will not be possible to put it into effect in time for next summer's schedules of British airlines. Is the hon. Gentleman aware that I believe that this is necessary and long overdue?
§ Mr. DavisI am grateful to the hon. Member, who, I know, has a real interest in this matter. It is hoped that the legislation will have been introduced and implemented by the end of the year. The CAA has already followed one of the recommendations made by the committee, by the setting up of the Flight Time Limitations Board, which I think will be valuable.
§ Mr. Leslie HuckfieldWill my hon. Friend accept that many of the problems of flight time limitations for the flight deck also affect cabin staff? Is he able to say anything about the progress of the committee which is reviewing the flying schedules of cabin staff?
§ Mr. DavisMy hon. Friend will be aware that the working party which was established following the recent dispute is looking carefully into questions affecting cabin staff. It would be premature for me to make any statement at this stage about that.