Reminds me of a story from a friend who flew for Skywest. Captain shows up for CDO ("Stand-Up Overnight") which is delayed due to weather. He had gauged his ability to complete the CDO based upon showing up and flying there and flying back at the scheduled times. My friend said this guy could rarely sleep at the hotel for the few hours available for sleep...just couldn't turn the mind/body off that quickly to get anything resembling restorative sleep.

After a delayed departure the WX caused them to hold and go missed approach back to the departure point. The company wanted him and his crew to then launch again at 4AM to try the whole thing again (going into Jackson Hole with mountains on all sides none the less). He called in fatigued. He was suspended by the chief pilot. This fiasco later lead to him being fired (after being accused of writing defamatory words about the chief pilot on a company bulletin board). He spent his retirement money to sue and a four years later fortunately prevailed.

In this case the company pushed for pilots to fly the mission but then went after the pilots for reporting to work as not fit for duty. Damned if you do....

The calling in fatigued/sick thing is never as simple as some on here make it sound. The companies implementation of sick verification was geared toward keeping people flying, not wanting to have to do a carpet dance. If you think it's for any other purpose you are not being honest with yourself.

My opinion, if DALPA pushes and sells the CDO activity (that can and will be assigned to some pilots who will not have a choice....regardless of the speculation they will all go "senior"), they do not have a leg to stand on going forward regarding safety.

"At the start of his shift on Wednesday, March 23, 2005, Douglas met with First Officer Troy Brewer, who told him that he was tired because of lack of sleep, and Flight Attendant Brandee Black, who said she had strep throat and had to stop taking her arthritis medication because of the antibiotics she was taking.5 The normal departure time for Jackson Hole was delayed for one hour or so, and snow storms were blanketing the area. Nearing Jackson Hole, the plane could not land because of the inclement weather, was forced to circle for an hour, and then had to return to Salt Lake City, arriving around midnight."

"There, Douglas was told that he and his crew were scheduled for a 4:00 a.m. flight back to Jackson Hole and then a return.7 Douglas testified that he unexpectedly found himself feeling unwell, "just physically and mentally drained" from the previous three hours, and concluded that he and his crew would be physically incapable of attempting another flight to Jackson Hole after just a few hours' rest.8 He called the crew scheduling office to report that he and his crew were unfit and told System Chief Jim Breeze that they would not be able to complete the later flight safely. The 4:00 a.m. flight was canceled."

"Breeze informed Tony Fizer about this fact. Fizer was SkyWest's Regional Chief Pilot in Salt Lake City. Fizer called Douglas, who explained that he had made the safest decision in declaring himself and the crew unfit.9 Fizer asked Douglas to complete an Irregular Operations Report and meet with him the next day. In the report, Douglas mentioned his recent surgery and his surgeon's post-surgery recommendations.10 Fizer imposed discipline—a week's suspension without pay and a counseling statement in his record—because Douglas showed up to work "not fit for duty" and released his crew members during the shift."

Douglas v. Skywest Airlines, Inc., ARB Nos. 08-070, 08-074, ALJ No. 2006-AIR-14 (ARB Sept. 30, 2009)