JoeyMeatballs

I am not saying there are not cases where pilots truly are fatigued but increasing our rest will have a very very negative effect on our QOL. Our trips will be less productive, and our days off will go down. I think the overall lifestyle and pay has more to do with feeling rundown than an actual duty day. If we were paid more we would not have to fly close to 100hrs to pay the bills and have some extra cash (for those that don't need to fly 100hrs, your lucky, living in Hoboken, NJ and paying off school loans is a KILLER)

anyway I just wanted to point out that more rest is not neccesarly the solution.............

discuss

TristarJS30

Oh, ok good.

As for your original post, I tend to agree. Those that think more rest will create more jobs and more time off for us has their head buried in the sand. Management will ALWAYS take the cheapest way out, and that's by having us fly less and be away from home longer.

ExperimentalAB

100% agree...personally, I don't mind the system much as it is; a 16-hour duty day is never forced upon us, and we have a tremendous amount of flexibility that I am not willing to give up...it seems that those rallying for 8-hr days can't see that with the flexibility comes responsibility. I for one would much rather be the one that decides when I'm too fatigued to fly, not the Fed's. And don't even think about messing with my commute! That is my choice, and made possible given the unique aspects of this job. Somebody on another thread mentioned that cross-country commuters should be required to be in-base 24 hours prior. ARE YOU SERIOUS? Don't screw with my QOL just because you've got yours in-base.

Another thought -- y'all know that the Fed's screw up just about anything they try and do, however good their intentions. Why do you think drastically lower duty-times will be any different? And for the love of all that is holy, do not think that Mgmt won't find a way to screw us even harder with tighter regs.

The lesson? Fewer regs and more personal and professional responsibility.

1900luxuryliner

How many hours of sleep do you get with 8 or 9 hours of rest? How is that safe? If pilots were actually honest about the IMSAFE checklist with regards to 8 hours of rest, it would be an automatic fatigue call, every time. I understand that the more rest one has, the less efficient the trips will be. But, there has to be a happy median between what it is now, and going too far the other way. 8 hours is just silly, and can't be reasonably rationalized as being safe, in my opinion.

ExperimentalAB

Many people actually live on 4 and 5 hours of sleep, every night (my grandmother has been doing it for longer than I've been alive); some simply need more sleep than others. You and I and the next guy are all different...That is fact, not opinion. Now I say that in the most respectful kind of way, because generally I agree with you. Just not this time LoL

seafeye

Well i just finished a 7 leg, 14hr day. Started with a show time of 5am. Two days prior i was on Hot Reserve till midnight.
One day off before i started the early morning flights.

If that isn't ucked up i don't know what is. Fatigue happens daily. Our eating habits, sleep habits are all messed up. I only have 10 days off as it is because i am on reserve. How much worse can they make it?

ExperimentalAB

That's rough, but were you unsafe to fly?

TheBills

Im about to be on 18 hrs. rest.......with a 5:30am van. Personally I dont see a difference between this situation vs. a reduced rest overnight, either way I will sleep 6 hours. I dont really see what were supposed to do about rest, and I agree with previous posts, just fix our QOL with pay and days off and we will complain and be on the news a little less.

BoilerUP

14/10 will not decimate your schedules.

If anything, allowing up to 10 hours of block in a maximum 14 hour duty day will make your days MORE productive, giving you MORE time off.

1900luxuryliner

You're right about that. I probably went a little too far in saying that everyone should be calling in fatigued with 8 hours of rest, if they were being honest about IMSAFE. Everyone is different. Some can function normally on 4 hours, some on 7 hours, and then some need 8. But, most researchers agree that, on average, a person needs at least 6 hours of sleep to function normally. Everything above 6, and up to 8, is beneficial. Anything above 8 in usually not beneficial, unless there was a previous sleep deficit (lack of sleep a previous night). This is speaking averages only. If I have 8 or 9 hours of rest, I'm lucky to get 5 hours of sleep. I can barely function that way. For my situation, I would like to see rest requirements higher. I feel like I fly fatigued way too often. The people around me fly fatigued way too often. For me, and the people around me, I know the current rest requirements aren't working effectively. For your situation, however, maybe change wouldn't help, and would only make your trips less efficient. Just a difference of opinion with differing situations.