Narrative:

I just finished day 3 of a 4 day trip. Below is an outline of how our trip was originally scheduled and then modified to accommodate a 2 hr 15 min mechanical delay at the start of day 2. I personally believe; and the other 3 crewmembers agree; this trip is a clear illustration of how scheduling and crew rest policies can be legal but unsafe and unsustainable in the long run. Working under such conditions leads to chronic fatigue and reduces the margin of safety below acceptable levels. Day 1 - start at xa:15 - end xd:49 (only 1 leg and 25 min later than planned) rest - 11 hr 41 min on paper; but in reality one can get 9 hr sleep at best due to hotel shuttle; drive time; food options; etc. Day 2 - start at xp:30 - end xd:33 (delay of over 2 hrs prior to leg one because of mechanical problems; 5 legs; no breaks for a real meal; 6 hrs 01 min block time) rest - originally scheduled for 11 hrs 03 min; but reduced to 9 hrs 02 min to make us 'legal'. Show time for day 3 adjusted by 5 minutes! At this overnight city with current hotel arrangements; a 9 hrs 02 min overnight actually gave us a chance to sleep 7 hrs at best. Day 3 - start at xm:35 - end xa:14 (6 legs; about 6 hrs block time; two aircraft swaps...; at least today we had two real meal breaks) rest - originally scheduled for 10 hrs 47 min; but later increased to 11 hrs to make us 'legal' again. Show time for day 4 adjusted by 15 min. Day 4 - scheduled to start at xl:30.... So... In summary; in the last 36 hours we've worked a 12 hr day with no breaks; slept for about 6 hrs 30 min; worked another 12 hr day; completed a circadian swap; remained 'legal'; and got very tired. I would not have bothered submitting this report if this was an isolated occurrence. The problem is that the above schedule might be just the first 4 days of 6-day stretch followed by one day off; which is followed by another 5 days on... Schedules like this are common and after some exposure to them we become victims of chronic fatigue; no matter how hard we try to rest well and be professional and responsible.federal regulations governing pilot rest and work rules are outdated and inadequate. Our company is under financial and competitive pressures to pursue what is 'legal' and not what is 'safe'. Crewmembers are sometimes unwilling to make use of the company fatigue policy because it is punitive in nature (a fatigue call causes financial hardship and if used often enough can lead to employee being viewed in negative light). Company does not take proactive steps to prevent fatigue.circadian swaps need to go away. 12 hour days need to go away (10 hour maximum duty day would be safe). 9 hour overnights need to go away (11 hour should be the minimum rest period and it should be timed from arriving at the hotel to departing from the hotel). The 6-ON/1-off/5-on kinds of schedules need to go away. If a day becomes too long or an overnight too short or a combination of both; then shorten the rest of the trip and send the crew home without loss in pay. Change fatigue policy to include pay-protection.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A commuter air carrier First Officer related what he believes to be unsafe scheduling practices that technically meet FAA flight time/duty time restrictions yet allow companies to assign physiologically debilitating flight sequences to flight crews.

Narrative: I just finished day 3 of a 4 day trip. Below is an outline of how our trip was originally scheduled and then modified to accommodate a 2 hr 15 min mechanical delay at the start of day 2. I personally believe; and the other 3 crewmembers agree; this trip is a clear illustration of how scheduling and crew rest policies can be LEGAL but UNSAFE and unsustainable in the long run. Working under such conditions leads to chronic fatigue and reduces the margin of safety below acceptable levels. Day 1 - Start at XA:15 - end XD:49 (only 1 leg and 25 min later than planned) Rest - 11 hr 41 min on paper; but in reality one can get 9 hr sleep at best due to hotel shuttle; drive time; food options; etc. Day 2 - Start at XP:30 - end XD:33 (delay of over 2 hrs prior to leg one because of mechanical problems; 5 legs; no breaks for a real meal; 6 hrs 01 min block time) Rest - Originally scheduled for 11 hrs 03 min; but reduced to 9 hrs 02 min to make us 'LEGAL'. Show time for day 3 adjusted by 5 minutes! At this overnight city with current hotel arrangements; a 9 hrs 02 min overnight actually gave us a chance to sleep 7 hrs at best. Day 3 - Start at XM:35 - end XA:14 (6 legs; about 6 hrs block time; two aircraft swaps...; at least today we had two real meal breaks) Rest - Originally scheduled for 10 hrs 47 min; but later increased to 11 hrs to make us 'LEGAL' again. Show time for day 4 adjusted by 15 min. Day 4 - Scheduled to start at XL:30.... So... In summary; in the last 36 hours we've worked a 12 hr day with no breaks; slept for about 6 hrs 30 min; worked another 12 hr day; completed a circadian swap; remained 'LEGAL'; and got very tired. I would not have bothered submitting this report if this was an isolated occurrence. The problem is that the above schedule might be just the first 4 days of 6-day stretch followed by one day off; which is followed by another 5 days on... Schedules like this are common and after some exposure to them we become victims of chronic fatigue; no matter how hard we try to rest well and be professional and responsible.Federal regulations governing pilot rest and work rules are outdated and inadequate. Our company is under financial and competitive pressures to pursue what is 'Legal' and not what is 'Safe'. Crewmembers are sometimes unwilling to make use of the company fatigue policy because it is punitive in nature (a fatigue call causes financial hardship and if used often enough can lead to employee being viewed in negative light). Company does not take proactive steps to prevent fatigue.Circadian swaps need to go away. 12 hour days need to go away (10 hour maximum duty day would be safe). 9 hour overnights need to go away (11 hour should be the minimum rest period and it should be timed from arriving at the hotel to departing from the hotel). The 6-ON/1-OFF/5-ON kinds of schedules need to go away. If a day becomes too long or an overnight too short or a combination of both; then shorten the rest of the trip and send the crew home without loss in pay. Change fatigue policy to include pay-protection.

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.