Personally I think the rule is just fine the way it is. You can't legislate good judgement, just becuase you give someone a "perscribed" rest period doesn't mean they will rest. I know a few guys that will get home from a trip at 7-8am and stay up all day simply because it's "normal" to be awake during the day. Then they may get a trip later that night and be tired. They meet the rest requirement rule, but due to their own stupidity they will still be flying tired. If you ask me the decresion should be left up to the pilot, like it is now. If I'm tired, I don't go. I've only had to use this once before a trip and I didn't catch any flack for it. They also never have a problem with me stopping for a nap if I need one. I also don't think being on call is being on duty. I'm on call right now and I'm not doing ANYTHING work related, I'm sitting around my house, puttsing around on my computer and later I'll probably go to the store, and just carry out my life normally. I'm not working, if they call me for a trip I'll go in and once I'm at the airport, then I'm working. But by no means is being on call work. IMO anyone that thinks being on call is work needs to get a real job for awhile so they can see what work really is.
Also if I want to fly home after my trip that is and should still be my discression. I don't like being on the road all the time and from what I've heard so far is that the new rule would eliminate 91 home. So basically if I fly for 8 hrs and end up in some place like Gwinner North Dakota, that's where would have to stay. I don't agree with that at all, if I'm not tired, I'm coming home. I know my limits better than the FAA does, everyone has different tolerances, so why put out a blanket rule limiting and possibly making things worse.
The only part of the rule I would like to see changed is to put a maximum on the delay allowed, say a 4 hr max delay.
I couldn't agree with you more on the point that you can't legislate good judgement, which is exactly why there is and has to be rules and regulations determined and enforced. That is the underlying point for safety regulations in any industry. In all of these regulation discussions regarding rest it rarely gets mentioned that the first and foremost obligation (by regulation) is for any crewmember to determine his airworthiness. Lot's of crews and companies seem to forget that regulated point. Just because the rest and duty time regulations are met for any given assignment does not at all mean a pilot is legal to fly in regards to fatigue.
I don't quite understand your direction, if I read your post correctly you think that the matter of rest and fatigue should be at the discretion of the pilot. I interpret that as to say that you feel there should be no mandated rules regarding required rest. But, you seem to recognize that some pilots don't use or have good judgment....
I also don't understand your coment on a maximum or limit on delay. If you feel that all operations should be predicated on the pilot determining his on limits and tolerances then you wouldn't need any regulations regarding delays and duty days.
I couldn't disagree with you on your on-call philosophy more. You're exactly right, when you are on-call you are not on duty. No one in this thread has suggested you are. But you are most definitely not in a qualified rest period as defined by the regulations. Maybe at any given time you are not doing any work, but you are obligated to your employer to work so you certainly are not off or free to do anything. I guess everyone will define "carrying out there life normally" differently, but being on-call is not my normal life and you certainly are under any number of restraints (distance/time to airport, no drinking, for example). I like going on long motorcycle rides, frequent mountain-biking locations, boating, all kinds of activities that would not fit into the parameters of most on-call situations. I live just twelve miles from my base, but traffic in my metro area would make that a minimum of a 45 minute drive basically any time of day. So in my situation I have about 10 minutes to be leaving my house professionally presentable in uniform. In other words, I would basically have to sit in a chair showered and shaved waiting for a call.
But back to the point. There has to be some basic minimum rest requirements and regulations. Absolutely a pilot is required to determine his fatigue level as the first and foremost factor, but that can not be the only consideration, IMHO. If everyone involved (pilots, operators, POI's) would follow the current regulations properly we'd be a lot better off. If a rewrite will help more people comprehend the regulations and increase the compliance than I'm all for it.
In the meantime, go get a 91 job, there are plenty of owners and companies out there that will be happy to keep you on-call 24 hours a day and you can fly as long as you determine your safe.... and its all "legal-like"!
