they'll be ready for an on-time and not inconvenience pax
I'm not yet flying for a living, but when did passenger convenience supersede flight safety? I don't see myself doing that. If the NTSB finds out that you reported without enough rest, I doubt passenger convenience will be a good enough answer.
----I agree. I would NEVER fly if I thought I was too tired to handle an emergency situation that would require memory items / solutions that required 'thinking outside the box'. Fact is, airlines push on-time performance, and airlines push safety as well. I know at my airline, I've never felt pressure to fly if I wasn't ready to deal with anything that could happen. I've even started a trip with a deadhead, and had to call in when I got to the outstation where I was supposed to fly because I got light-headed and dizzy on the deadhead. I kept trying to tell myself I could get some water, and try to focus...b/c now we'd probably be stuck canceling at an outstation. Oh well, rather delayed / canceled then what could have happenned. Company didn't even ask questions, in fact the chief asked what they could do to help and if I wanted a hotel. But I digress.... It's one thing to stuck up an early wakeup and grab a large coffee for the first couple legs, it's another thing to fly fatigued. Call me odd, but I actually find the early morning van rides kind of nice...the crew is usually pretty quiet and it gives me time to wake up my mind by reviewing emergency memory items in my head to get focused. It's the little things....
I don't know of any airlines that require you to live any sort of timeframe from the airport, other than for reserve reporting purposes.
How does reserve work then? Say you live in MIA, and you're base is JFK? Do you have to check in at the crew hotel the night before? Seems wasteful, especially if you don't get called.
I realize that posting on tt=his forum won't change the FAR's, but I'd like to know why pilots have allowed themselves to be taken advantage of, with the obvious risks to flight safety? Maybe somebody will read this post and bring it up at the next ALPA meeting?[/quote]
------When you're on reserve, you are required to be within, say 90 minutes, of the airport. However, on your days off, you're off and don't have to be within reach. Also, the company is not going to pay for a hotel for you when you are on reserve...that's what crashpads are for.