"One small correction, that's not how a doctors note works NOW. Now they just ask for one any time they f*cking want. Or at least, that's the way I read the post on PFC." quote from frankthetank

Notice how the chief pilot only tells part of the story. A half truth=lie. The contract says more than his letter, specifically about FDX needing a good faith and objective reason to question the sick call, or use with DSA and/or sick during / near holidays. That is whats required.

There is nothing in the contract on 10 days to get a note OR ELSE.
There is nothing in the contract about miss one sick note OK but next time you need a letter. Is BM dreaming this stuff up?
Where in the contract does it say that you have to respond to a computer generated "irregularity report"

 

Maybe all that CRM training has made me "sensitive" to language utilized in the cockpit.

2. The flight crew will review the MEL item and communicate the Captain's concurrence.

Lag we are diverting to Denver because the Altitude is almost 6K. Tell them you agree and let's get going.

I prefer Mac myself. Never order it at the cdg Marriott though.

 

Chirp, Chirp, Chirp.

 

Breaking down a wall, while further separating themselves from us.

Hope they're reading this.

I'm gonna call in sick whenever I feel that I am physically or mentally unable to safely operate the airplane...period. I click sick and shut the computer down. That's it.

After I call in well, if they want me to go get a note, I'll go. I'll go and explain that my employer wants a note because I called in sick last week because I felt I could not go flying (although I feel great now) here's my $20 co-pay, thanks for the note.

I'll also go mil leave whenever I need to as well. Period.

This stuff from the company recently is threatening in behavior and borderline harassment.

 

This stuff from the company recently is threatening in behavior and borderline harassment


+1

 

With the sudden rash of "the wall coming down" & spike in sick leave usage complaints ... I see a (devious?) negotiating tactic here.

I've often wondered if Management has a "War Room"? I can imagine a room that has big scrolling calendars, there are 2 big red vertical lines.

- "CBA amendable date"

- and -

- "How long can we stall in signing a new TA day." (maybe 18-36 months after the CBA amendable date?) Basically, every day we stall we save $XXX,XXX dollars ... STALL AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!

I can imagine monthly goals on this calendar with the ultimate goal of distracting the Negotiating Committee & MEC (and thus the crew force). Hell, it will cost ALPA money at the same time!

- Amendable date minus 9 months ...make nice "gestures" about taking down "walls." (maybe we can even get Mr. Smith to attend a hub turn ceremony?)

- Amendable date minus 8 months, make noise about sick leave ... ask 20-30 guys for notes from their doctors, we can pretend like we don't really want to do it.

- Amendable date minus 7 months ... "Give" the pilots iPads. It will save us thousand of dollars a months, make them think we are doing them a favor? Maybe we can even get them to do iPad training on their own time?

- Amendable date minus 6 months ... "Suggest" that military pilots not take military leave. We know it's probably not legal but we might be able to get away with it?

- Amendable date minus 5 months ... it's getting cold outside, threaten to take their parkas away

- Amendable date minus 4 months .. HIGH FIVES!!! We made it through another PEAK without a new Contract, when do we get our Management Bonuses?

- Amendable date minus 3 months ... Construct more sleep rooms. The FAA would probably have required it anyway to get around the new Crew Rest Regulations. Make them think we did it to be nice (they should have done it 10 years earlier!).

I could go on for much longer but I hope I've made my point ... DON'T LET THEM DISTRACT US FROM OUR GOAL OF GETTING A FAIR CONTRACT.

Maybe that's all this nonsense is?

 

Concur ALPA needs to formally address BM, as this policy is in conflict with the meaning & intent of sect 3-1930 of the FAA Federal codes, as well as the federal HIPPA law 45CFR 160.103.

Furthermore his statement lacks credibility in denying that there is no positive correlation to an aging crew force, more demanding schedules, less rest, less days off, and the inability to modify one's schedule to sick leave utilization. An intellectually bankrupt "argument".

As I'm riled up about the issue personally, but if flt ops management wants to play hardball & pilot push, then perhaps ALPA needs to communicate with the FAA POI, regarding sect 3-1930, that SPECIFICALLY STATES, "...the decision to call in sick should not be influenced by the fear of company reprisals...These policies and procedures should not discourage flightcrew members from taking sick leave when they are ill."

The following excerpt is from the FAA’s Code of Federal Regulations.

3-1930 CREW MEDICAL QUALIFICATION AND PROCEDURES DURING TEMPORARY MEDICAL DEFICIENCY.

A. Responsibility of Operators and Flight crew Members. Title 14 CFR part 61, § 61.53 and 14 CFR part 63, § 63.19 preclude required flight crew members from flight duty while they have a known medical or physical deficiency. These sections rely solely on the ability of flight crew members to honestly determine their medical fitness. It is incumbent on individual airmen to be certain that they have no illness or physical impairment that would affect their medical fitness for flight. The NTSB believes that air carrier operators should share the responsibility for verifying flight crew members medical fitness for flight duty. However, it is not always easy for operators to determine the extent of a crewmember’s medical fitness. In order to maintain the highest level of safety, required flightcrew members must not fly under conditions that would make them unable to meet the requirements for their current medical certificate. This decision should not be influenced by fear of company reprisals.

B. POI Responsibility. POIs [principal operations inspectors] should encourage their assigned air carriers to have established sick leave policies and procedures, especially those concerning the release of flightcrew members from duty when they develop sudden temporary illnesses, such as colds, flu, or fevers. These policies and procedures should not discourage flightcrew members from taking sick leave when they are ill.

Pilots also have an “I’m Safe” checklist that is to be performed before they even sit behind the controls of any aircraft. “I’m Safe” is a mnemonic used by pilots to make sure they are fit to fly and is interpreted as [the following definitions have been taken directly from the FAA Risk Management Handbook FAA-H-8083-2]:

Illness. Am I sick? Illness is an obvious pilot risk.
Medication. Am I taking any medicines that might affect my judgment or make me drowsy?
Stress. Am I under psychological pressure from the job? Do I have money, health, or family problems? Stress causes concentration and performance problems.
Alcohol. Have I been drinking within 8 hours? Within 24 hours? As little as one ounce of liquor, one bottle of beer, or four ounces of wine can impair flying skills. Alcohol also renders a pilot more susceptible to disorientation and hypoxia.
Fatigue. Am I tired and not adequately rested? Fatigue continues to be one of the most insidious hazards to flight safety, as it may not be apparent to a pilot until serious errors are made.
Emotion. Have I experienced any emotionally upsetting event?
So not only are you as a crewmember fighting the symptoms of your illness, but you are also fighting your company regarding its attendance policy. While flying you are experiencing stress, worrying about how you will be disciplined if you call off sick or fatigued. To me it seems that every item (except for alcohol) on the IMSAFE checklist is affected when a pilot is ill.

 

Olly wrote;

Pilots also have an “I’m Safe” checklist that is to be performed before they even sit behind the controls of any aircraft. “I’m Safe” is a mnemonic used by pilots to make sure they are fit to fly and is interpreted as [the following definitions have been taken directly from the FAA Risk Management Handbook FAA-H-8083-2]:

From the same Chapter 8 of the AIM that you find the "I'm SAFE" checklist:

8-1-1. Fitness For Flight
a. Medical Certification.
b. Illness.
1. Even a minor illness suffered in day‐to‐day living can seriously degrade performance of many piloting tasks vital to safe flight. Illness can produce fever and distracting symptoms that can impair judgment, memory, alertness, and the ability to make calculations. Although symptoms from an illness may be under adequate control with a medication, the medication itself may decrease pilot performance.
2. The safest rule is not to fly while suffering from any illness. If this rule is considered too stringent for a particular illness, the pilot should contact an Aviation Medical Examiner for advice.

 

.......+1

This is exactly the same guidance the union should put out as well

It really is plain & simple --- they need to tweak their manning model to deal with it

It's like prudently adding gas when there are storm lines on the horizon, even if you don't fully understand why those storm clouds are building

(...except of course they do!)

Isn't it a bit ironic they have added numerous lines on the FPR and fancy statistical fuel charts to convince you to fly with less fuel, but then feel very uneasy heading into peak with less pilots due to sick and mil leave?

Aren't the schedulers satisfied with planning at the 85% confidence level and then getting out there in the real weather and rolling the dice?

Perhaps they don't want another repeat of Dec 24, 2009 when they ran out of 727 FOs, had to cancel flights --- all while we were "overmanned" and enjoying our 4A2B Christmas

 

Who says you have to go see a doctor when sick? A fellow pilot?? Can I get some investment advice while you are at it? What happened to staying in bed and eating soup. YGBSM!!

How about I head to my local Walgreens, purchase over the counter Sudafed directly from the pharmacist (a healthcare professional who practices pharmacy). Take a picture of the box and the receipt after highlighting the date, then email that picture to the PAC with my handy dandy IPad when requested. Geez.

Oh and if you call in sick over Christmas, the new procedure is to buy your doctor a ticket, within the accepted fare of course, to Memphis to testify. You can monitor the testimony through the new glass partition separating ops from black ops.