Operators will always attempt to split hairs in all kinds of ways but it's actually really simple.
You cannot legally be in rest and on short-call simultaneously. To accept a duty assignment, the pilot would need to show at least 10 hours of rest in the 24-hour period preceding the planned end of the duty assignment. 10-in-24 lookback. The FAA goes on to define what constitutes "rest" for the purposes of this lookback: Valid rest must meet all 3 of these criteria: 1) A continuous, uninterrupted period of time (4 hours here and 6 hours there is not 10 hours of rest) 2) Must be known prospectively (oh looks like you didn't get called for the last 12 hours, that was your rest! Nuh-uh...)
3) Free from all obligation to the certificate holder. Can I turn off my phone for 10 hours without without a problem? The answer should be yes. If not, then I wasn't free from obligation to the company and thus
not in rest. Whether or not I answer is up to me, but if I'll get in trouble for not picking up the phone during my required rest period, guess what? That ain't rest.
If you want me on call, I need to know when that window begins and ends ahead of time, it can't be for a period exceeding 14 hours, and at the end of that 14 hours I better be able to ignore calls until my on call period begins again. Badger and threaten all you want. I can get a new job a lot easier than a new certificate, and you're just giving me a free TMAAT story for my next interview.
