Looking at the soon to be implemented 117 rest rules, I shake my head at the obsurd complexity of the entire structure.

Not that the previous rules weren't fairly convoluted also, but the 117 version puts a whole new meaning to self inflicted difficulity.

Is the FAA really concerned about safety, rest, circadium cycle alignment etc?
Is 117 all just the FAA and the airlines compromising back & forth so much that this is what we're left with?

It appears that these new rules will take away much flexibility for airlines regarding trips. Since you will no longer have "good to start, good to finish" sked will have to build soft time into each days trips, lest you have planes without crews all over the map.

I've never thought flying tired was a good idea and I have not enjoyed the back side of the clock at all. The previous rest rules allowed for some rediculous schedules but the new 117 rules seem to go off in another direction.

As 117 gets utilized I'm sure some things about it will become clearly beneficial to proper rest, some things
will tie the hands of scheduling.

I really wonder why 117 got written the way it did. It seems that we as pilots will go from crazy 16hr duty followed by reduced rest to compensatiry to reduced....to something much more restrictive. Perhaps a kneejerk reaction for those involved in the making of the 117 rules.

An FAA dispatcher can work 10 hrs, a US truck driver 12. Why not simplify the pilots also.