Legal Vs. Safe: Part 1 - Rest!

What actually happens on a 9 hour - FAA legal minimum non-reduced rest overnight?

The first (reality-ignoring) problem with scheduling a 9:00 overnight is that it is assumed that the flight will be on time, because scheduled reduced rest is not allowed according to our contract. This is obviously not realistic, as it is certainly anticipated by the company that the flight crews will probably be on reduced rest on a significant percentage of the overnights. Reduced rest will only add fuel to the following fires, and is in my opinion a ridiculous concept. Say this out loud, and listen to yourself: "Oh, one night without adequate sleep is OK. It is completely safe. The FAA says so, therefore it must be true!"

How much trouble would we, the pilots, be in if we were to be honest with the passengers during our "Welcome Aboard" announcements? "Hello, this is Captain Bob. Well, I'm a bit bushed this morning, and so is the rest of my crew. You see, we didn't pull into the gate last night until 8 hours and 15 minutes before our report time this morning. It will be OK in the end, though, because we are being compensated with additional rest tonight after our full day of flying today. So, the bottom line is, we're tired but we're legal. The FAA says so, so don't worry about it! We hope you enjoy your flight today." We'd all be fired, right? Just for telling the truth.

I already know the company response to the above premise: "You, the pilot, are responsible to call in fatigued if you feel you are unfit to perform your duties."

Bravo, well played! *golf clap* Very nice. Very legal. This statement removes all culpability from the company and puts it smack dab on the pilots. We, the pilots, are now responsible to make a legal decision to fix (or, on the contrary, cause a separate really extremely large problem in the form of a cancellation because of) a problem created by the company through unrealistic scheduling practices.

As I kind of like to poke at sensitive areas, I'll explain this situation from a pilot's perspective. The pilot thinks: "Yes, after a bit over 5 hours of sleep I am kind of tired. Am I too tired to fly? Maybe not. I'll get a large coffee and see how I feel then. If I call in fatigued I'll strand this airplane, my passengers, and my crew here in Seattle, and I will cause untold hardship, misery, and financial loss to all involved. I will be branded as a "troublemaker" by the company and I will probably see retribution. Oh, hell. I guess I'll just fly the damn trip."

This rationalization is what happens most of the time. The flight leaves on time, passengers arrive at their destinations on time, and everyone is happy but the tired crew.

An important item to note is that we are only given 15 minutes between block in and the beginning of legal rest. This is wholly unrealistic and is obviously a complete fantasy. On a perfect day it takes 15 minutes to simply de-plane the aircraft. Wheelchairs, meet-and-assist pax, maintenence items, and other issues come up. We need the definition of the beginning of legal rest to accurately reflect what we know to be reality - the honest truth - in the real world. Rest should begin as soon as we, the crewmembers, enter the hotel room. The reason I use "enter the room" is that I have had too many instances when the room key doesn't work, the room isn't cleaned and ready for me, or there is someone else in my assigned room. It takes time to fix these problems, and I am obviously not resting during this time.

On the other end of the legal rest window, the report time is the end of legal rest! It also happens to be the exact same time that we are required to be at the airplane to perform our preflight duties. What was the FAA smoking when they approved that interpretation of the end of legal rest?! I have many words for the stupidity of this, but it hardly needs saying that we are not resting in the following situations: *deep breath* While getting dressed and packing to leave for the airport, waiting for the van to leave for the airport, riding the van to the airport, going through security at the airport, and walking to the airplane at the airport.

In my example, legal rest begins at 10:29 PM. We are not even to the hotel van waiting area until 10:36 PM. We aren't in our rooms until 10:53 PM. We may be crewmembers, but we are certainly not robots. Even with my definite effort to quickly get ready for bed, I didn't turn the lights off until 11:24 PM. It takes me a while to fall asleep after turning the lights out, and that is reflected in the chart. Again, we are not robots with on/off switches! The FAA and airline management both need to start recognizing this!

Another completely ignored aspect of the biology of humanity is involved in this schedule. Circadian rhythms. Most humans need to be on a regular schedule to obtain adequate rest. The company has proven time and time again that their definition of "Safe" is "FAA Legal". This is patently false, and we all need to quit pretending that we believe otherwise. Scheduling a redeye followed by a sit followed by another leg back to base is complete lunacy, and was in my opinion, a very large factor in one of my company's "pilot error" incidents of last year. If safety is truly the #1 goal of our company, then there should be company policies stating recognition of, and procedures implemented which include a basic understanding of the physical needs of human employees. Embrace the uncomfortable, inconvenient, and expensive fact - legal is not the same thing as safe. Management should be required to repeat this obvious truth as their mantra, as we are required to state out loud during our gate briefings - the common sense logic - that we will not take off with a horn blaring at us. (That's a whole separate idiotic issue...)

The basis of our training as pilots is that whatever is more restrictive, FAA regulations or company policy, will be the determining factor. I propose that the more restrictive interpretation of rest would be based on the recommended 8 hours of actual sleep, with realistic rest regulations built on real-world airline crewmember experience. Therefore, rest should begin 30 minutes after you enter your room, and end 30 minutes before scheduled van time to the airport. If you want to make it easier to track and enforce, just average it out to rest beginning at 1 hour after block in, and ending 1 hour prior to report time. Make it 10 hours, minimum. There should also be no such thing as "reduced rest", because that equals "reduced safety".

*Cue the company screaming* Sorry, folks. That's what it would take to ensure an 8 hour sleep window.

In summary, airlines will always schedule pilots and flight attendants right up to the limits of legality. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the FAA to set those limits to reflect a realistic, safe rest window for all air crew members. The FAA is currently considering re-writing rest regulations in response to the Colgan crash.

Passengers should send letters to the FAA if they are concerned about what I have said in this posting, and want a truly rested pilot at the controls when they are in the back of the plane.