Narrative:

Fatigue on XA00 'short call.' this window is from XA00-XP00. I received a call from the crew desk about XA00 to 'reset' my rest so that I could come fly that on an XT12L departure and then duty out at XJ00-XAD00 that day. I called a flight manager to investigate. He checked with the crew desk manager. He then replied tome that the crew desk assigns trips based on who is currently assignable; not who 'should' fly. In other words; they could call me; but not the XJ00 short call for 2 hours. I knew when I became a pilot for this air carrier I would fly late hours; early and all night. However; when able; I plan sleep as best I can; e.g.; nap; early to bed; sleep late; etc. Admittedly; doesn't always work; but I try to be responsible. Noting that from XA00-XU00 is a day that can't be planned for safely; in my opinion. I regularly get XA00 or XB00 am short calls and am amazed at how often the phone rings at XA00 for an XE00 deadhead or departure. Therefore; I assume that will happen and attempt sleep accordingly. I am unable to plan a sleep window that wakes me at XA00 am rested to work all day; but instead; get woken up and not sleep well for hours; and then hope for another 8 hours of sleep later. This same event happened the week before with an XA15 call; 'rest reset' for late flying. Numerous of my first officers and fellow captains have told me it is getting to be a regular practice lately. I phoned the company doctor with my concerns about how to manage this scheduling problem. He consulted me on fatigue and management of it. I expressed my concerns for safety and that since there was another reserve who could fly the trip in his window and that I felt we were scheduling to maximize crew desk efficiency and safety was not factored in. As previously stated; I don't mind flying all night; late or early. I can't manage my sleep preparedness for 22 hour days and efficiently operate. I know sometimes you're the 'only' available and; therefore; get the bat instead of the ball. In the previous 2 years of reserve; this practice had happened once to me; now twice in 2 weeks with many reports from other crew members. I actually felt ok for the night flight; however; the next 2 days of flying I was off peak. The week before; both crew members showed signs of fatigue on the long day. Calling fatigued sounds like a good idea and it is a good option; however; in operations; forecasting your efficiency many hours from departure is a difficult task. In the words of toby keith; 'I ain't as good as I once was.' increasing use of 'rest resets' should have the data of increasing use examined and I believe the practice should be stopped. Flying a pilot over 2 duty periods for efficiency at the cost of safety may be contractually legal but foolish.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain in a reserve status describes a scheduling 'reset' in which a call at the beginning of his scheduled duty period will 'reset' (continue) rest so that he can be scheduled to fly later in the day. The reset interferes with rest planning and can create a very long day with an interrupted rest prior to reporting for duty.

Narrative: Fatigue on XA00 'short call.' This window is from XA00-XP00. I received a call from the crew desk about XA00 to 'reset' my rest so that I could come fly that on an XT12L departure and then duty out at XJ00-XAD00 that day. I called a flight manager to investigate. He checked with the Crew Desk Manager. He then replied tome that the crew desk assigns trips based on who is currently assignable; not who 'should' fly. In other words; they could call me; but not the XJ00 short call for 2 hours. I knew when I became a pilot for this air carrier I would fly late hours; early and all night. However; when able; I plan sleep as best I can; e.g.; nap; early to bed; sleep late; etc. Admittedly; doesn't always work; but I try to be responsible. Noting that from XA00-XU00 is a day that can't be planned for safely; in my opinion. I regularly get XA00 or XB00 AM short calls and am amazed at how often the phone rings at XA00 for an XE00 deadhead or departure. Therefore; I assume that will happen and attempt sleep accordingly. I am unable to plan a sleep window that wakes me at XA00 AM rested to work all day; but instead; get woken up and not sleep well for hours; and then hope for another 8 hours of sleep later. This same event happened the week before with an XA15 call; 'rest reset' for late flying. Numerous of my First Officers and fellow Captains have told me it is getting to be a regular practice lately. I phoned the company doctor with my concerns about how to manage this scheduling problem. He consulted me on fatigue and management of it. I expressed my concerns for safety and that since there was another reserve who could fly the trip in his window and that I felt we were scheduling to maximize crew desk efficiency and safety was not factored in. As previously stated; I don't mind flying all night; late or early. I can't manage my sleep preparedness for 22 hour days and efficiently operate. I know sometimes you're the 'only' available and; therefore; get the bat instead of the ball. In the previous 2 years of reserve; this practice had happened once to me; now twice in 2 weeks with many reports from other crew members. I actually felt OK for the night flight; however; the next 2 days of flying I was off peak. The week before; both crew members showed signs of fatigue on the long day. Calling fatigued sounds like a good idea and it is a good option; however; in operations; forecasting your efficiency many hours from departure is a difficult task. In the words of Toby Keith; 'I ain't as good as I once was.' Increasing use of 'rest resets' should have the data of increasing use examined and I believe the practice should be stopped. Flying a pilot over 2 duty periods for efficiency at the cost of safety may be contractually legal but foolish.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.