MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010

THE AUSTRALIAN Civil Aviation Safety Authority has announced it will relax Australian rules on crewing standards that will enable Australian-registered airlines to reduce the number of flight attendants they are required to staff domestic and international flights.

CASA’s "notice of proposed rule-making" will enable Australian airlines to operate flights with one flight attendant per 50 passengers, instead of the traditional Australian rule that until now has specified one flight attendant per 36 passenger seats – bringing Australia into line with most other countries.

The new rule will enable airlines to operate a 180-seat Boeing 737 or a 180-seat Airbus A320 to operate flights with four flight attendants instead of five.

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