135 Schedule

[Gulfstream 200]

I admit, I used to have a schedule like that ... my question is these days how is that legal. I mean do you ever come into work to do Jepps, purchase stocks, ect? You are not at rest. You must be on duty, right?

Do you ever go out and have a beer. If you cannot do it at noon then you must be on duty, right? If you cannot have a beer in the evening then you must have been at rest ealier, right? I remember always being ready well and rested when I was called at 3AM to do a charter .... yea right. Either you plan for a 3AM call or you feel like $hit and your passengers are paying the price.

How many more Ebersol crashes is it going to take before we as a profession are playing a game that ALWAYS ends up in someone getting killed at some point in the future. The recent 135 crashes all seem to have the same pattern over and over.

Good luck to all in this mess. We do need a professional standards board to answer to. Until then it is just this continued loosy goosy BS that make 80% of unscheduled 135 look like a bunch of hacks.

good post G100!

Many of us have been there...its ugly, and sometimes flat out dangerous (looking back on it)

However, I dont think it will ever change, the 135 world if simply too full of scumbag shoestring operators and cheap owners willing to sacrifce their own safety to save a few bucks - and also, admittingly, full of pilots willing to work like this to get some experience to move on.

It makes about as much sense as the stupidity MDs go through as residents pulling 72 hr shifts and seeing patients and being responsible for lives on the spot.....rediculous.

but hey, at least they have big paychecks soon after thats over...we get...ummm....nevermind.

 

[402CAPT]

Hey Lost Shinner Bach on me.

 

[HMR]

0600 pickups in RNO?! You guys are giving me flashbacks. I don't think I ever got called to go to RNO at a "normal" hour. What's the deal with that place?

Lostdog- I used to work for a lowball charter outfit with a 24/7, 45-minute call out, no scheduled days off EVER "policy". I feel your pain. The worst was that period around 10pm on days you hadn't been called (yet). I never knew whether to go to bed and try to sleep before the inevitable 3am call or just tough it out and stay awake.

When I started flying PT91 with no pager or "on call" requirement; it took me a good 2-3months to be able to sleep normally. I'd hear a noise in the middle of the night and immediately start reaching for my pager on the nightstand. Of course, there was no pager anymore as I had soaked it in battery acid, crushed it under a locomotive wheel and thrown what was left in an iron smelter.

 

[Lostdog65]

HMR said:

I'd hear a noise in the middle of the night and immediately start reaching for my pager on the nightstand.

Funny you should say that...I inadvertantly left my pager on and at home while I was flying freight...it went off at 3 am...wife finally figured out how to shut it off but inadvertantly set the alarm for 6 am...how appropriate!

Where can I sign up for RCPA???

Eric

 

[Publishers]

So much depends on what kind of flying you are doing. In 135, hard days off in smaller companies are very difficult. On the other hand, with jet equipment, there are hard days down for maintenance that are somewhat known in advance. In our charter, we do not have that many instant trips so if your not scheduled for tomorrow at 5pm, it is likely you will not fly the next day. Likewise, most weekend flying is well known out a ways. While not hard days off, you still can have a pretty good situation/.

 

[Lostdog65]

Ok Pub...where you working, what are you flying, what are your min's/pay and are you hiring???

Eric

 

[volunteer]

I am currently working for a charter with a 20/10 sched. The 10 days are consecutive and the eight in the middle of the 10 are hard days off. So, we get a vacation every month. We fly on average 13-15 of the 20 days on. If something pops on the eight hard days off, then we have the OPTION to fly it if they need us and we get bonus $$$ to do it. If we turn it down, they have no issues getting a contract for the trip. We also had the option for a 14/7 schedule, but we wanted to leave it like it is. 20 days on is a long tour, but I really like being able to plan on having a 10-day monthly vacation. I think the mentality of management is key. Ours is great.

 

[Lostdog65]

Volunteer...same question I posted for Publisher!

Eric