Originally Posted by
Carl Spackler
Why yes. Yes I do.
I'm so disappointed in you for not remembering your own pattern that you've so accurately listed above. You'll recall that this was NOT supposed to be about negotiations. It was supposed to be about REDUCING the dangers of fatigued pilots. But as usual, the original purpose gets forgotten as partisans enter and try to get their goodies in. The biggest example of which is the APA's deepest desire of getting their JetBlue rule inserted to INCREASE the amount of work pilots can do by 2 hours.
But this process was SUPPOSED to be about REDUCING fatigue. As you correctly point out, their study does not say that 10 hours is less fatiguing than 8. Thus this process is not science based to reduce fatigue. It is politically based and used the ABSENCE of science to conclude that they must be right to increase pilots hours by 2. As usual, ALPA took their eye off the ball and caved in so that they can keep their coveted "seat at the table".
As I've stated earlier, you're making the mistake of buying in to the evolution of this process as some kind of contract negotiations. It was NOT supposed to be that. It was supposed to be a rule making process to REDUCE pilots fatigue. Instead, it devolved into an avenue for the ATA to get their most coveted desire, then try to "balance out" this huge win by letting go of far less meaningful items.
Carl
You really didn't address a single one of his points.
What is so holy about 8 hours anyway? Did Moses bring that FAR on tablets from the mountainside. That rule is fairly arbitrary and was written decades ago, probably just suggested by a long-forgotten and long-dead congressional aide. Yet we cling to it as if it were holy writ.
DUTY DAY and a respect for circadian rhythms is all that matters, and these new rules actually address that--UNlike the current ones. Not one guy complaining about the new FT/DT rules ever mentions how unsafe the CURRENT rules are, especially for those carriers that love to fly guys 8 legs a day in a 16 hour work day (which our contract wouldn't allow)--but hey, since block time is < 8 hours, it's "Safe!"
If and when the new rules are finally made law, I'm sure there will be such an "outcry" at DAL (and every other airline for that matter) when the new rules result in ATL-LAX-ATL or DTW-LAS-DTW turns paying 8.5-9.5 hours, that they MIGHT even trickle down to more than the top 10% in each category.