04/18/2026
Pilots have federal rest rules. Doctors don’t. Why?
The FAA’s Part 117 protects airline pilots — and everyone on the plane — with strict limits:
- 10 hours of rest before every flight (8 uninterrupted for sleep)
- Max 8–9 flight hours per duty period
- Max 60 flight hours in 7 days, 100 in a month
- At least 30 hours off every week
- Pilots must self-report fatigue. Airlines must have fatigue management plans.
Now compare that to medicine 👇
- Residents can still work 24+ hour shifts
- Attendings have no federal duty-hour limits at all
- 80-hour workweeks are legal (and common)
- “Fatigue” is treated as a personal weakness, not a safety hazard
A tired pilot grounds the plane.
A tired doctor is told to push through.
Both hold lives in their hands. Only one has laws that say rest matters.
It’s time for evidence-based duty-hour regulations for physicians. Not as a luxury, but as patient safety policy.
