Originally Posted by
gloopy
Do you really think 5am reports followed by a 4-5 leg full length duty day are really less safe than a reasonable SDP? Even on the exact same amount of sleep the night before?
Trouble is that it's not going to be on "the exact same amount of sleep." The CDO pilot is going to have maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep in the 24 hour period. That has been proven out over the years by the way pilots who bid these atrocities handle them.
The 5am report followed by a 4-5 leg day is handled the same way I handled it on my last trip a few days ago. I planned for it on the layover. I ate an early dinner. I got a good long workout in. And I went to bed and went to sleep around 8pm. I got 8 hours of sleep.
Personally, I hate the early morning go's like that. And if I had the seniority in my category to do it, I would bid around it. But it's manageable for me when I have to do it. On a CDO, I personally could not do that (get 8 hours of sleep during the day in preparation). I know some can. But I submit that most cannot and/or will not.