Narrative:

I recently started a four-day trip. After flying the first leg I did not feel well. I spent our break trying to get some air in the hopes of feeling better. I decided that I would try flying one more leg to see if I felt any better. Upon arrival at our second destination I still did not feel 100% but I was not sure if I was sick enough to warrant a [sick call] occurance. After a while I determined that I was too sick to work and I contacted crew scheduling and called out sick. On monday I contacted my chief pilot's office to determine the number of occurrences I had accrued. I was informed that; if I stayed out sick for the entire trip; I would have 11 occurrences and none would drop off until three months later. This left me no room for any further sick calls without any disciplinary action. In order to allow myself some leeway in the event of any possible future illnesses; especially with the flu season upon us; I decided to call in well even though I was not feeling completely better. I informed crew scheduling of my condition and asked that they place me on reserve in lieu of being placed back on my trip. I felt much better the first day of my reserve; but at the time I called in well; I was definitely not well. This occurred due to the pressure our occurrence system places on its crews; both pilots and flight attendants. Many times when we don't feel well; but are not completely sick; we play a game in our heads where we determine if we are sick enough to warrant using up one or more of our occurrences. In many cases; I; and many other employees; have come to work sick. This means that we are not in our best shape to handle any issues or even emergencies that may occur. I think our passengers deserve crew members who are in good shape and feeling well. Also; by coming to work sick we put our fellow employees and passengers at risk of catching our sickness. Strictly speaking; if we are sick we should not be at work. Unfortunately our occurrence system prevents this from happening. The best way to prevent this from reoccurring is to get rid of our occurrence program. I believe it is simply pilot pushing; if only indirectly. Placing your pilots in a position where they are forced to come to work sick is no less an example of pilot pushing than forcing him to fly an illegal aircraft to avoid punishment would be. I think this program simply creates unsafe situations and creates a risk to our passengers that is easily preventable.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier First Officer removed himself from a trip for illness but because of disciplinary concerns put himself back on the reserve availability list while still not entirely well.

Narrative: I recently started a four-day trip. After flying the first leg I did not feel well. I spent our break trying to get some air in the hopes of feeling better. I decided that I would try flying one more leg to see if I felt any better. Upon arrival at our second destination I still did not feel 100% but I was not sure if I was sick enough to warrant a [sick call] occurance. After a while I determined that I was too sick to work and I contacted crew scheduling and called out sick. On Monday I contacted my Chief Pilot's office to determine the number of occurrences I had accrued. I was informed that; if I stayed out sick for the entire trip; I would have 11 occurrences and none would drop off until three months later. This left me no room for any further sick calls without any disciplinary action. In order to allow myself some leeway in the event of any possible future illnesses; especially with the flu season upon us; I decided to call in well even though I was not feeling completely better. I informed crew scheduling of my condition and asked that they place me on reserve in lieu of being placed back on my trip. I felt much better the first day of my reserve; but at the time I called in well; I was definitely not well. This occurred due to the pressure our occurrence system places on its crews; both pilots and flight attendants. Many times when we don't feel well; but are not completely sick; we play a game in our heads where we determine if we are sick enough to warrant using up one or more of our occurrences. In many cases; I; and many other employees; have come to work sick. This means that we are not in our best shape to handle any issues or even emergencies that may occur. I think our passengers deserve crew members who are in good shape and feeling well. Also; by coming to work sick we put our fellow employees and passengers at risk of catching our sickness. Strictly speaking; if we are sick we should not be at work. Unfortunately our occurrence system prevents this from happening. The best way to prevent this from reoccurring is to get rid of our occurrence program. I believe it is simply pilot pushing; if only indirectly. Placing your pilots in a position where they are forced to come to work sick is no less an example of pilot pushing than forcing him to fly an illegal aircraft to avoid punishment would be. I think this program simply creates unsafe situations and creates a risk to our passengers that is easily preventable.

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.