Originally Posted by Purpleanga

I also agree that the FAA has a dirty role in this as well and nobody has challenged them yet considering they can change the duty times immediately if they want. Unfortunately they only go by statistics hopefully this latest static will be enough but I really doubt it.

Originally Posted by saab2000

Why should they? Do you fly less safely because you are not well paid?

Originally Posted by ryeflyer

Of course it's up to the pilot, but what corporate culture do these people work in? Can you really declare that your're fatigued? What's the sick-leave policy like if you've got a heavy cold say?

Originally Posted by boilerpilot

And the fact that you either take that out of your sick time or don't get paid for that time? Regional FOs don't have a whole lot of choices. At a lot of places you will get at least one or two overnights like that a month, and if you only earn 2-4 sick hours per month, then you're spending all of your sick time (or much much more) on fatigue calls. What happens if you're really sick? The real issue is that when making the decision between calling in fatigued or when deciding to go to work for the day, the FO has to decide if the lost pay or lost sick time is worth what will probably result in a relatively safe and violation free day.