You are not required to ascertain at 12 hours. That is a deadline for placement of an assignment on your schedule. You are responsible for ascertaining by the beginning of your on call period.

 

Just to clarify: If you are in rest, you are on the far side of the moon. There is never, and has never been required activity, to include schedule checks. You don't exist.

 

You have misrepresented a section of the PWA. That is NOT what the section says.
The accurate text of 23 S.5.d.2)b) Note: A pilot is responsible for ascertaining whether they have been assigned a rotation or converted to short call...
THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT TO CHECK. Your responsibility is to show up as early as 10 hours after the start of reserve if it was on your schedule by 12 hours prior to the end of your soft non fly day.

Some even make the argument that if you live close, you could check your schedule 9 hours into the reserve day and be at work on time.
If you commute you could check before the last flight that gets you to work by 10 hours. If assigned such a trip or SC you are considered to have complied with the backup requirement.

I would think checking and acknowledging at the beginning of reserve would be more appropriate, since you are required to be promptly available for contact and therefore acknowledgement. Scheduling doesn't have to contact you, but acknowledging promptly as if contacted seems appropriate.

 

Just to add, lets say on your first day of LC scheduling adds a trip or SC reporting at 1000. You are in rest obviously on your day off until 2359, and you are in rest for 10 hours immediately preceding your report. But for a split second at 0000 the system assumes you go on LC and your rest is broken and that is when hypothetically you have been made aware of your obligation. You still don't have to acknowledge the assignment, but you are expected to report at the assigned time. So the period from 0000 on your X day till your 1000 report on reserve is not considered a 30 hour rest break since it was broken ever so briefly at 0000.

 

so…lets say I do report at 1000 for a 10 day stretch of reserve days. When I calculate my upcoming 30/168 limit…i use 0000 on that first reserve day for the calculation?

 

​​​​​​​Someone already pointed out I should have added "at the earliest 12 hours prior" and not exactly 12 hours. I also noticed I didn't edit the 2nd and 3rd "10 hours prior," just the first one. Where did I ever say you had to check your schedule? I specifically pointed out checking is an action verb, and hence duty, and ascertaining isn't. Thanks lawyers. You can do nothing, but it's your responsibility if a legal trip is on your schedule beginning 12 hours prior to the end of your non-fly day. How you find out about it is up to you.

 

Yes, assuming you were in rest/off by 1800 two days before starting LC then your 30 hour rest would end at 0000. But if you had a trip that released at 2000 and then only a single X day you’d have to go back even farther to find your 30/168.

 

Assuming you either had 2 days off, or were prospectively given 6 hours more rest prior to a single day off, your last 30 hours rest period began at 1800 2 days prior to that first day.

 

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You did not use the word "check" but you stated that a pilot has an obligation on their day off, which they absolutely do not.

Even with changing this to "at the earliest" it is still not correct. You do not have to ascertain anything on your non-fly day. Period.

This is also incorrect. You do not have to do anything at 10 hours prior, for the same reason as above. Your day off is a day off, and it is free from all duty. Legally, this works because the assumption is that you will be notified of the assignment at midnight when you check your schedule like a good little widget. You can elect to do this on your own time earlier if you wish, but there is absolutely no obligation to do so.

 

I spoke with a scheduler who asked their supervisor, and got the response "that's not how we interpret it" and said a backup would be required

Color me surprised.