Originally Posted by
404yxl
So I only worked at Compass post 117 and never worked at another 121 carrier prior to that. Got it. That means I started at Compass no earlier than 2014.
Why do you think someone that worked pre-117 has to agree with you? I did and I actually find myself getting more time at home, more rest, while work less flight duty hours than I did pre-117.
Why do you think I am lying?
And for the record, I actually like flying a productive 35 hour 5 day trip with low flight duty periods that don't exceed 10-12 hours max. The old rules sucked with 16 hour flight duty periods. You can fly 70+ hours in two 5 day blocks of work and have 3 large off day blocks in a month. Under the old rules, you would need at least 3 work blocks to achieve 70+ hours. There are some benefits to no 30 block hour in 7 limit anymore. I believe the 60 flight duty limit in 7 days does a good job mitigating exhaustion.
I always felt more tired when I had a lot of flight duty hours in 7 days. I think that was the reasoning behind the FAA to institute a 60 hour flight duty limit in 7 days, since they said anything over that was causing pilots to lose effectiveness. Remember 80+ hours could happen pre-117.
I guess 80+ hours could and did happen at some of the regional airlines pre 117. I will give you that. That is really the entire reason the rules were changed in the first place. I honestly can't remember doing anything much more than 70 when I worked at Coex, but I might have done. I do remember going home a day early on lots of occasions when the 30 in 7 block limit kicked in. I know I had never been gone from home longer than 5 days in my career pre 117 and now it happens regularly and I get my rest in a hotel in Fargo instead of at home. NOT better in any way.
117 is better for rest on layovers. That is a good change. If I were king I would require the 30 hours to be in the pilots domicile and not count layovers for that rest. But I'll never be king so I'll just complain about it.
If we disagree, no hard feelings. You regional guys still work way harder than you should no matter what the regs say. 3 leg days are punishment for me anymore.
(still remember 9 legs days in the Brasilia in the summer in Houston)