Narrative:

The first officer reported for duty for this three day trip with multiple symptoms; including sniffles; sneezing; and coughing. These symptoms were pronounced during the first leg ZZZ-ZZZ1. At the layover hotel; prior to departure on day two; the first officer informed he that was going out to find some cold medicine. On the second leg; ZZZ1-ZZZ; the first officer still had the symptoms. He stated that he felt better now that he had taken [over the counter cold medicine]. I noted that he was irritable during prep for departure; and overly impatient with some routine local delays in boarding and fueling. On departure; he made some errors (set heading 300 when ATC assigned 030). His symptoms continued to ZZZ. After block in at ZZZ; before the next leg; I asked if he thought he should continue. I asked if he might be better to call in sick and go home. He stated that he couldn't call in sick every time he had a head cold. I was exhausted from a poor night of sleep with anxiety over flying a three day trip with a sick person 18 inches to my right. I was exhausted from listening to him sniffle; sneeze; and cough. I was exhausted and not fit myself to continue. I had also informed the ZZZ chief pilot and the ZZZ [personnel management] that this first officer was sick. I was not provided any guidance on company policy or procedure for working with a sick coworker. I was basically ordered by the chief pilot to continue the trip with the sick first officer. I was cautioned by the chief pilot not to try to advise the sick first officer to call sick. The [personnel management] offered the opposite advice - that I should ask the sick first officer to call sick. I will report the facts of this event to the FAA under the AIR21 whistleblower program.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Captain of A319 reported that he was ordered to continue flying with a sick FO and was becoming ill and fatigued in the process.

Narrative: The First Officer reported for duty for this three day trip with multiple symptoms; including sniffles; sneezing; and coughing. These symptoms were pronounced during the first leg ZZZ-ZZZ1. At the layover hotel; prior to departure on day two; the FO informed he that was going out to find some cold medicine. On the second leg; ZZZ1-ZZZ; the FO still had the symptoms. He stated that he felt better now that he had taken [over the counter cold medicine]. I noted that he was irritable during prep for departure; and overly impatient with some routine local delays in boarding and fueling. On departure; he made some errors (set heading 300 when ATC assigned 030). His symptoms continued to ZZZ. After block in at ZZZ; before the next leg; I asked if he thought he should continue. I asked if he might be better to call in sick and go home. He stated that he couldn't call in sick every time he had a head cold. I was exhausted from a poor night of sleep with anxiety over flying a three day trip with a sick person 18 inches to my right. I was exhausted from listening to him sniffle; sneeze; and cough. I was exhausted and not fit myself to continue. I had also informed the ZZZ Chief Pilot and the ZZZ [personnel management] that this FO was sick. I was not provided any guidance on Company policy or procedure for working with a sick coworker. I was basically ordered by the Chief Pilot to continue the trip with the sick FO. I was cautioned by the Chief Pilot not to try to advise the sick FO to call sick. The [personnel management] offered the opposite advice - that I should ask the sick FO to call sick. I will report the facts of this event to the FAA under the AIR21 Whistleblower Program.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.