dhc8fo said:
yeah, if it were only that easy. not too sure who you work for (if a regional at all), but just because they made you a crappy schedule and the van ride took two hours longer than it should have and you only got 3-4 hours of sleep isn't their concern. Then when you call in fatigued, you get the call from the chief pilot and an "occurance" that will evetually lose your your job. Ask any regional pilot. intimidation forces many pilots to do stupid things. it isn't right, but to dismiss it as a simple decision is not fair.
...and so what does this have to do with the "American public" and why do they need to be force-fed some kind of awareness of this? Schedules are a matter to be decided between management and your union. If you truly are fatigued due to scheduling and need to sleep in the cockpit (and btw, those catnap studies/rules are for extended flights just short of requiring heavy crews), then I'd say your union leadership blows and isn't listening to you on this safety-related issue. If you lose your job because of it, well then your union is worthless to the extreme and I can't believe you'd pay $1 in dues to those pansies, whoever they are. If your CP calls you on it then he's just a managementass-kissing weasel.
As far as schedules are concerned, during my time flying for the airlines most pilots were usually pushing for lines to be built that had more flying hours, with maximum flying hours per duty day so therefore more days off per month. If scheduling accomadates this, then that means you work your butt off during your days on. You can't have it all ways......minimum turn times and maximum hours with maximum days off "but by the way I never want to get tired when I work". If it's such a big safety issue, why not instead push for workable schedules that don't run you ragged even though it might take a day or two off from a monthly line?
And face it, some fatigue encountered is due to someone's being unwilling to adjust their time-off schedule to what they know their upcoming duty schedule will be. I've spent more than one night sitting next a nodding-off FO who got up at 0800 (because that's what they do at home) to hit the gym at the hotel when the duty day began mid-afternoon. Additionally, such a person usually considers coffee to be some kind of poison. I never harrassed anyone for something self-induced like that, but I do consider it poor pre-planning.
It's interesting to see everyone leap to this Captain's defense for a chance to co-opt the "fatigue issue" as it relates to their own situation, when for all they know the guy might have spent the entire previous night chatting online or reading golf magazines. After all, the FO seemed to be awake, didn't he?
But please don't get me wrong. If I could, I'd prefer to fly from a fully-reclined position, gently rocking in a cockpit hammock, with all the controls within easy reach so I'd barely have to move a muscle. Upon arrival into the chocks a "do not disturb" sign would be hung on the cockpit door so all turns could be spent aslumber, just like we had to roll out our mats in 1st grade for mandated naptime. All paperwork would be the responsiblilty of someone else, and we would be awakened sometime after beginning push-back, just prior to engine start.
Oh, and there'd be a coffeepot right there in the cockpit.
