Originally Posted by FL370esq

I'm not sure I understand your point. An FFDR is filed when a pilot has "pulled the plug" on the operation - whether fatigued or unfit for duty, not just because an FDP extension was refused. Regardless, if the those numbers are rising while the amount of flying remains relatively constant (for year-over-year comparative purposes), it would seem the opposite of your "crew intimidation" assertion is happening and pilots, in fact, aren't being intimidated and are calling in fatigued/unfit for duty at greater numbers. I suspect as the company runs the operation at or near the red line with summer IROPS occuring, those numbers will continue to increase.

If you are concerned solely about FDP extensions, maybe you should push for a comparison with other legacies such as United, American and even Southwest. I believe FAR117 only requires a carrier to report actual FDP extensions greater than 30 minutes but it might be interesting to see how Delta ranks among them.