Originally Posted by
Days Off
Have you ever even stepped foot on a 767? Doesn't sound like it! For one, on the MD, you are at least in a darkened area on the other side of the cockpit door. On the 76, you're up front, lights on, overhead speaker on, no futon, and no ability to at least get horizontal...
Yes, I have been on our 767. My reply you quoted was a response to someone asking if it could be done under our current contract. That answer is a simple "yes" for the reasons and examples I stated.
I didn't say I thought it was a good idea or even practical. It is, unfortunately, legal according to both the contract and FAR. There is also A LOT of precedent thanks to our buds at UPS and even pax airlines. Some pax operations used to give their pilots a non lay flat seat in first class, others a row of seats in coach. One of the charter operators I'm familiar with just expected the pilots to lay on the floor in the cockpit of an A320.
The MD-11 futon set-up might be marginally better than what you would have on the 767, but only slightly. You still have guys coming/going, hitting the head, making meals, etc. Temperature control was a roll of the dice and if you had jumpseaters or couriers, forget it. So, over the last 8 years, the amount of good sleep I got on that thing could probably be measured in minutes.
Short of negotiating something specific in the contract (once we vote down this TA which has nothing in that area
), I think anyone on the 767 should expect a futon, pillows and blankets. That's past practice. If there isn't, then you call flight coordination, ops or whoever and hold the flight until they show up. You put the futon back by the door, cuddle up with some earplugs and eye cover and do your best to sleep like everyone else not on the 777. Getting anything more than that would simply be based on good will from the company via an appeal citing safety from ALPA. As a minimum, maybe they'll retrofit a curtain that can close off the little hallway from the light of the flight deck.