Originally Posted by
JoeyMeatballs
I am not saying there are not cases where pilots truly are fatigued but increasing our rest will have a very very negative effect on our QOL. Our trips will be less productive, and our days off will go down. I think the overall lifestyle and pay has more to do with feeling rundown than an actual duty day. If we were paid more we would not have to fly close to 100hrs to pay the bills and have some extra cash (for those that don't need to fly 100hrs, your lucky, living in Hoboken, NJ and paying off school loans is a KILLER)
anyway I just wanted to point out that more rest is not neccesarly the solution.............
discuss
It has nothing to do with your preferences. If you work an office job, and feel like working 16,18,20 hours straight, with a 1+ hour drive on each side, while you sleep 4-5 hours per night...that is your choice.
If you don't have a safety sensitive job, don't sleep at all, pull all nighters thats cool. Enjoy aging in dog years, and taking years off your life. But when your a 121 pilot it has nothing to do with what you want, it has everything to do with the safety of the pax in back.
Many people operate fine on 3-4 or 5 hours of sleep, i did for many years. But is it safe? It depends on the person.
People smarter than pilots (doctors) tend to think that 5 hours of sleep is not a sustainable lifestyle.
Can you get away with it for a few years? Sure. But i have seen many bright eyed 21 year old FO's looking 30+ after only 2 or 3 years in the airlines.
And that 80 year old looking mainline pilot, he's about 55.