Originally Posted by
Sniper
2 questions:
- Does Spirit have duty rules that would limit (only certain times of the day can a duty period be scheduled over X hours) or prohibit (pilots are limited to X hours of time on an aircraft) this type of flying?
- Supposing this type of flying is allowed (ie, it's not specifically prohibited), how would it be paid? 9 hours of flight pay, or 6 hours of flight pay, only paid when you're @ the controls?
The second option is perhaps more dangerous. For every pilot that recognizes the safety issue, another is willing to overlook it for the extra $.
- How does Spirit treat deadheading? Seated where (coach, BFS)? If there's a clause about 'DH time is duty time but not rest', then that might have some 'chilling effects' on IRO ops too.
Assuming this kind of flying is allowed (in that its not specifically not allowed, in typical management logic), there could still certainly be a fatigue issue. There's what, 4-8 'Big Front Seats' on an aircraft? Best case, block one of them with a curtain - would a pilot sitting in one of these seats lose some flying ability (ie, the ride as a passenger itself is fatiguing), or would it be 'neutral'? If you were seated in a single middle coach seat with no curtain (worst case), same questions - effects on fatigue? I ask only b/c I thought that Sun Country or some other US 737 operator flies some transatlantic stuff (with a stop in Gander or something) and uses a single coach seat for the IRO - I could be mistaken.
Probably all just a brain exercise, since a Bogota, Lima, Guayaquil or Quito overnight is possible too, though if Spirit operates 3 frequencies to BOG each day, it seems to line up nicely with a continuation to Lima, Guayaquil and Quito each, so 24 hours of fun in SA. What other US airlines have overnights in Guayaquil and Quito (if known, don't post specific hotel, obviously)?
For question 1, yes we have a sentence or two in our contract that is well hidden, (in fact some schedulers don't know) that if your duty day touches anywhere between 1 and 4am the max scheduled duty day is limited to 11.5 hrs. Actual duty is limited to 12.5 hrs. You can continue, but it is your choice.
As for the seating, they are supposed to give us a BFS if available, but it usually doesn't work out. I would rather sit in a regular seat anyway, because the BFS seems to me have a flater bottom, and my buttocal region tends to fall asleep. The regular seat cushions I think have more of a slant to them, and it's more comfortable for me.