Kind of like typing in English. You’ve been using it for what, 55-60 years, yet you can’t put together a single post using “an” instead of “a”. Or using “you’re” instead of “your”. Not to mention all the other ways you absolutely murder your mother tongue.

The normal duty day for domestic ops is 14 hours, right. If I’m unable to continue past that, why is it incumbent on me to fill out fatigue reports? I showed up rested and ready to work. If weather or maintenance, or a reroute cause me to have to work past 14 hours, if I feel good, I’ll do it. But having a punitive system in place where, if I can’t continue 2 hours past my (normal) max duty day, I’ve got to satisfy a bunch of company requirements to get paid? The company does this on purpose because the risk/reward, or pain/pleasure threshold is going to cause most of us to just suck it up and get the job done without making any waves.

It’s why they pushed so hard for the current sick call requirements. After a certain point, knowing that calling in sick will cost you a trip to the Dr., most guys will show up, just cause it’s easier than calling in sick.

Unfortunately, I’m convinced that our leadership doesn’t care if we are fit to fly or not. Whatever makes Delta the most money is what’s most important. If we cry mercy, they relent, but they make it as difficult as possible. If you’re a domestic pilot and you haven’t flown a trip in the last 5-6 months that absolutely kicked your rear end, you’re either really senior or you’re doing something else right. I’m seeing 8:15-8:30 block days regularly on a day or two of almost every trip I fly. We’ve always managed to keep the operation running safely, fatigued, exhausted, or not. We will continue to do so, because we are professionals, and it’s in our own best interest to continue to do so.