Originally Posted by Oberon

That is about the best case scenario you could have. With 117 rules and Delta's bank structure you could do a flight as long as about 2:15 block. That will be about a 1:35 flight time in the busier hubs and 1:45 in the less busy hubs. That has the potential to really suck. This could be mitigated by mandating four hours at the hotel.

CDOs would eliminate 30 hour layovers at smaller cities with limited flights. This was a good thing at my old company because we didn't get paid for 30 hour overnights and taking them out of the general pairing population increased efficiency (days off). The down side at my old company was CDOs didn't pay well either.

At Delta CDOs would be kind of a wash. With the right language you wouldn't have any real ball-breakers and they would pay well so they would go to people who actually wanted to fly them, but it's my understanding that we will get paid 5:15 for 30 hour overnights under the 117 LOA anyway.

I can see both sides of the argument. I don't find CDOs particularly fatiguing but I live 25 minutes from where I work and would be able to (and have in the past) nap when I got home. I know others find CDOs terribly fatiguing. It seems the majority of Delta pilots don't like them so it's just as well we don't have them.

Two man all-nighters are my nemesis because I can't sleep during the day unless I'm already tired. I'd love to see these augmented. Maybe a caffeine stipend?