Since Fedex contract
 

Has anyone seen any crew facilities added or changed since our contract. I slept 3.5 hours on the plane in Omaha on an AM out and back last month. I asked about recliners and the manager said their was no money. I am tired of sitting in a conference room for hours trying to get rest and avoid fatigue. Anyone have an opinion?

You sure that you don't work for UPS?
(we need an acceptable facility for anything more than a 2 hour stop, or else a dayroom)

There were two things that I thought UPS did better than FedEx (for their crew force): 1) rest facility at outstations, from what I remember, there was to be 3 recliners, a TV, a desk and chair, all in an air conditioned environment; and 2) UPS had a much easier to use Quick Reference Handbook (Red Tabs). At least that's what I remember, given it was a long time ago. The majority of FedEx stations still don't have reasonable rest facilities for the crews.

Heck the Atlanta staion is one of the worst IMO. We can't even keep the ceiling tiles from rotting out. Just a trip to Home Depot or Lowes would fix it. Now about the A/C and some recliners???????????????????? :confused:

I have yet to see any recliners installed since the contract. DSM has a new ramp and no crew lounge was built. All I want is a recliner in a closet. Thats it. Nothing fancy, just somewhere to rest. It is not the scheduled breaks that get you it's the unscheduled delays that kill me. I diverted to Fort Myers last year and had to sit in the break room for three hours. When we finally made it to FLL we were too tired to go back to MEM. When I told the duty officer that we were fatigued he was stunned. He stated that an op emergency was declared and we should be able to keep going. All of this could have been avoided with 3 cheap recliners in a closet.

Parks31, please tell me you didn't keep going back to MEM after telling the duty officer you were fatigued. I also hope you called the union and let them know about his pilot-pushing response.
The new contract has much stronger language protecting us when we call fatigued as long as a good-faith effort has been made to get adequate crew rest. With today's environment, if you are pushed to fly by a mangement type after calling fatigued, you should get a union rep involved immediately (even if an op emergency has been declared). You might also consider recording your conversation if you need to call fatigued.
Any one know if that would be illegal since the company has already told us that all conversations with crew scheds and management may be recorded?
In any event, if you put it on tape that you are too fatigued to continue, and a manager convinces you to continue anyway, you are really hanging it out there if absolutely anything happens on that flight.

A couple of years ago, I complained to the 727 ACPs about the state of the recliners in SYR (one on milk crate, another listing left, 3d OK) and the fact that there was no heat in the room in Nov for our 2 hour AM drool. They promised action. Next week on, still no heater, good thing I brought a spare from home. Did same trip 4-6 months later, same recliners. Complained again and then a couple months later, those new psuedo-recliners showed up in MEM and they began shipping the old ones to all the out stations. I bet there hasn't been anything updated since then. Perhaps we could target our complaints better if we knew who really was responsible for providing recliners (and heat), the Sta Mgr or MEM.

I was in SYR last week and they had a heater in the room, but I would still consider the accomidations less than comfortable.

No, we stayed in FLL. I have had to call fatigue quite a few times in the last two years. Goc and scheduling will agree that the crew needs to be released but will not make the decision. Once the crew does then the DO tries to push you into going. I just dont understand why it is so hard to buy some recliners for the outstations. Ask a Delta pilot what they have. They dont fly nights but have recliners. The union could step up and buy the chairs. I would pitch in. I am just tired of the safety talk but nothing is being done.

Fatigue
 

Would anyone think we should start a new topic on fatigue? I realize everyone has different experiences but in 12 years I havent had to call in fatigued. Some of the posts say they have had to call in fatigued "several times in two years". Maybe we all should hear these examples so we could build a better database on this. If this isnt the correct forum then any suggestions would be welcomed. Cheers.