It kept me away from home far more and had many other negative effects. The only positive was more rest…in a hotel.

Im not at all claiming to be some expert that can definitively say this will be good or bad for cargo, I really don’t know. I’m not however going to assume it’s good just because the company doesn’t want it.

Just remember every action causes an equal and opposite reaction. The problem to solve is NOT how this will affect current schedules, but rather what reaction this will draw from the company.

Schedules will likely change dramatically, and solving that puzzle will determine how good or bad this is.

From what I could gather at my regional, the schedules got less commutable and less efficient. As a non-commuter who enjoys not falling asleep while flying I appreciated 117, but a lot of the “Checking loads for my commute in 4 days before I print the flight plan” types hated it. Would be interesting to hear other opinions on it though.

Safe Skies Act
 

From my perspective, it was all around better for fatigue (health) and QOL. But I came from a regional that had pretty good scheduling rules and maybe management that wasn’t always trying to squeeze the last blood drop from a turnip. Supposedly, according to the union scheduling gurus, 117 was going to reduce about a half day (or was it a whole day, I can’t remember anymore) worth of days off in a month on average for the same amount of credit, pre-117. For me, I never saw that. But I never was one to bid on max credit hours and or try to pick up trips (was always a commuter). So that never affected me. I always bid for max days off and min guarantee if needed to get max days off. So maybe it all depends on whether the pilot is a QOL bidder, like I am, or one that is trying to maximize pay most of the time. By the way, the same scheduling gurus never came out and said if they were correct after 117 was implemented.

As for FedEx, on the domestic side at least, it doesn’t seem like much would change since the contract provides much of the operational limits in 117. That’s probably why you don’t see a lot of FedEx guys clamoring for 117 as you do from the ACMI guys. There is a lot of fear of the unknown though from the international guys, I guess because of the theatre and augmented rules?

I’m a big proponent of 117. Overall, I think it’s a benefit. Also. I rather not to be in the same airspace with pilots who may not be getting the benefit of the fatigue rules in 117. Selfishly, I don’t see the competition being able to negotiate these rules into their contracts. So 117 would bring them into more of a fair competition with the cargo airlines that do have robust fatigue mitigation rules in their contract.

Thanks all for your responses.

FAJ

Interesting take, thanks for the reply. For me I’m much more susceptible to acute fatigue from one or two short overnights, I can stay on the road with no real problem as long as I’m getting a full nights sleep and enough time to work out. I can see how time at home might be more restful to others.