- Fit for duty means physiologically and mentally prepared and capable of performing assigned duties at the highest degree of safety.

- 117.5 (a) Each flightcrew member must report for any flight duty period rested and prepared to perform his or her assigned duties.

- Delta treats this issue like my regional did and I hate it. I’ve always contended you should be able to deny an extension on the basis of not being fit for duty, which is explicitly defined in FAR117. You’re only required to be rested enough to perform the duties assigned, i.e., your assigned FDP...NOT the max FDP per table B

 

We are getting lost in the weeds/semantics here. Yes, it is company policy that if you refuse an extension you must say why. Easy peasy (though the conversation should end at "no". Call your reps on that one.)

However, it is also a mischaracterization to say it is mandatory that you extend, and we would be foolish to treat it that way. It will get people hurt or worse. Safety first, full stop.

Look, I think we are all on the same side of this argument. We make the big bucks to make that honest and safe call, but for goodness sake don't treat it like you have to extend.

 

The FAA has interpreted it to say that the company can ask for a reason why you aren't extending and has said it is not the business of the FAA if a pilot is disciplined for not extending.

 

You can contend what you want. And you can call in not fit for duty but you have to fill out a FFDR.

And the last part is not true. The FAA interpreted in the last few years that "with no further intent to fly" as the company's intent. You could be held on duty through the end of your FDP.

 

Several years ago (albeit under the last contract) my -88 captain looked at me after a long 3 or 4-leg day of dodging summer thunderstorms and reroutes, and... asked if I was really ready to make the last leg into ATL, landing at 02XX. After a foggy second or two, the answer was obvious. We layed-over wherever we were. Never heard another word about it.

A pilot group treated like professionals should never, ever have to say more when it come to safety (except maybe in a good-faith effort to simply find out what happened, not to hold pay 'at risk'). Besides, there are other, more effective way to handle those suspected of abuse than to make 98 PLUS percent of those making the call wear diapers. If ALPA's recent MEC-Brief about D being way above the industry standard didn't get you there, that statistic alone ought to make this go away.

 

I have heard that the FAA doesn’t care if a pilot is paid after refusing an extension. I do not believe they would wash their hands of a company taking disciplinary actions against a pilot for refusing to extend. Why even have the reg is you are going to allow a
company to browbeat pilots into extending every time.

 

You may want to believe it, but it isn't true.

From the Anderson Teamsters LOI,

"In your next question, you ask whether a certificate holder may take disciplinary action
against a pilot for refusing to concur with an FDP extension.
During the rulemaking process that created part 117, commenters asked the FAA to add a
non-retaliation provision to part 117 to protect flightcrew members from disciplinary
action. However, the FAA rejected this suggestion, explaining in the final rule that:
[C]arriers are entitled to investigate the causes for an employee's fatigue.
If a carrier determines that the flightcrew member was responsible for
becoming fatigued, it has every right to take steps to address that behavior.
However, if the flightcrew member's fatigue is a result of the carrier not
following the regulatory requirements of this rule, the FAA may initiate
enforcement action against the carrier"

 

Well I’m going to disagree. The FAA said they have a right to address the behavior “if the pilot was responsible for being fatigued.” It does not say they can discipline you for simply refusing an extension.

I will stand corrected on one other item though. Clearly, via the ruling you quoted above, even the the FAR doesn’t say it, the FAA considers the only valid reason not to extend is fatigue.

 

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

100%. FAA should never have given the decision to pilots to extend. Fatigue is like being drunk or hypothermic. Simply impossible to self diagnose, it’s worse as you get older, and the other pilot is likely in the same boat.

 

I guess their messaging isn't working.