Originally Posted by Calpilot
The 8 hour waiver is just the beginning. Accepting this as the "norm" will result in future degradation of the current regulations. I believe in Darwinism but do not support changing rules that are contrary to flight safety. Anyone who thinks flying a 10+ hour LA turn safely with a 2 pilot crew is naive.
Good Luck.
The problem is there is no science behind the 8 hour rule. We are running a test program that will yield empirical evidence as to the the physiological effects of the 8 hour waiver. Until then, we are all naive because we just don't know the effect on flight safety, but we will.
Those of you that have worked at 3 or 4 airlines have a right to be skeptical, even cynical. But a word of caution...your skepticism can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of "us vs. them," and you will end up with the exact situation you had at your previous airlines. Is that what you want? Do you think the result will be any different? Do you want to be looking for work in another five years?
Realistic, how do you figure the 8 hour waiver will result in fewer pilots? We will still have a set number of hours divided by a number of pilots flying 80-85 hours per month. Monthly divisors will be about the same, so there should be no incentive to reduce the number of pilots, unless we up the 100 hour rule, extremely unlikely. The effect on reserves remains to be seen. The seniority rule is a valid issue, and I strongly suggest you take up some of your concerns in a pocket session. Why not? However, I suspect senior pilots will end up with productivity of about 8-9 hours a day, with junior about 6 hours, an improvement for everyone, if you ask me. Time will tell.
This forum is a great exchange of ideas and thoughts, and I welcome the comments from outside JB as well. Thanks.