In article .com,
wrote:

I'm sure that the report is very sobering to currently active
pilots who read it. One hopes that it is sobering to the people who
schedule air crews, also.

As one who works for a commuter airline flying 19-seaters, I assure you
it won't be. These people truly care only about what's legal -- what
they can get away with -- rather than what's safe. If I'm legal to
start work at 10pm, fly an hour and a half, get five hours of
still-on-duty "sleep" from 11 to 4 in the break room at the airport (no
hotel), and then fly six legs from 4am to 2pm, then they'll assign it.


As long as I don't exceed 8 hours of scheduled flight time between my
8-hour "rest" periods, then it's perfectly legal. And after my 8
hours, another 16 hour ballbuster -- I just need a couple of extra
hours of "compensatory rest," for all it's worth.

And if I delay my showtime because I'm exhausted, I'm legitimately in
fear of my job. If I show up late twice in a 12-month period, I get
three days off without pay. A third time and I'm fired. Things like
that are why airline pilots unionize -- pay is just a small part of it.

This is the kind of "safety culture" these pilots were dealing with.
Yeah, they screwed up. But the FAA is *not* helping things by clinging
to rest rules that have KILLED PEOPLE. Remember the American flight
into Little Rock? On duty over 15 hours. Very unsafe.


I'm looking at leaving the airlines altogether, to work for one of the
fractional jet operators. Interestingly enough, they're covered under
FAR 91 Subpart K, and they have different rest rules. The big part
121 carriers can reduce rest (which *includes* the ride to and from the
hotel) to just 8 hours. Fractional jet operators? 10 hours rest, bare
minimum.

Ironic that flights carrying five executives require better-rested
pilots than airliners with a couple hundred people, don't you think?



Rant over. I'm on a break before my last leg of a "short" 14-hour,
7-leg day of hand-flying, and I need a nap. Thanks for reading.