Umm no.

FAR says start FDP or RAP....makes no mention of petting the airplane, crossing the threshold, flipping a switch, etc.

 

I had no intention of starting anything and called to inform them. They removed the SC and I got a SCC out of it. I attribute it to an accounting failure and crew scheduling. I have a responsibility to make them aware and I did. So technically correct I didn’t do a SC RAP but they assumed I had.

 

"Reserve availability period means a duty period during which a certificate holder requires a flightcrew member on short call reserve to be available to receive an assignment for a flight duty period."

Where in that definition am I, as a pilot, required to take any action?

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-1...ter-G/part-117

 

Does SCC still get paid at 320 rate or NEO rate? My reserve guarantee got paid at the correct rate.

 

From page 185 of the SRH (bold added by me):

FAR Part 117 includes four rest requirements:
1. “30-in-168” Before beginning any reserve availability period (RAP) or FDP, a pilot must have received at least 30 consecutive hours free of duty within the 168 consecutive hours (seven 24-hour periods) immediately preceding the start of the RAP or FDP.
2. “10 before beginning” Before beginning any RAP or FDP, a pilot must have received at least ten hours of rest with a minimum of eight uninterrupted hours of sleep opportunity. A sleep opportunity generally commences once the pilot is at a location where he can reasonably be expected to go to sleep and not have that sleep interrupted, such as a hotel.

Note that in the SRH and FAR 117 they both explicitly say "before beginning..." There is no carve out for "not intending" to begin. If you know you have an assignment upcoming for which you do not have legal rest then you are required to notify the company prior to the start time that you are not legal. Allowing the start time to pass means you started a SC RAP, regardless of your so-called intentions. The fact that you then received a SCC for sitting the SC (again, how can you get credit for sitting SC if you had no inention of sitting it?) means that per the FAA you sat at least a few minutes of SC without legal prospective rest.

 

SCC is at the lowest rate but RES guarantee pays at the highest.

 

I edited my post before you replied. Go back and look at the last sentence.

 

SRH page 185:

FAR Part 117 includes four rest requirements:
1. “30-in-168” Before beginning any reserve availability period (RAP) or FDP, a pilot must have received at least 30 consecutive hours free of duty within the 168 consecutive hours (seven 24-hour periods) immediately preceding the start of the RAP or FDP.
2. “10 before beginning” Before beginning any RAP or FDP, a pilot must have received at least ten hours of rest with a minimum of eight uninterrupted hours of sleep opportunity. A sleep opportunity generally commences once the pilot is at a location where he can reasonably be expected to go to sleep and not have that sleep interrupted, such as a hotel.


FAR 117.25

(b) Before beginning any reserve or flight duty period a flightcrew member must be given at least 30 consecutive hours free from all duty within the past 168 consecutive hour period.

Legality is a joint responsibility between the pilot and the company. You cannot report for an FDP without 10 hour prospective rest immediately prior. Choosing to report when say you've only had an 8 hour rest period is knowingly violating FAR 117. The exact same langauge/rules apply to a SC RAP. You cannot start a SC RAP without both 10 hours rest prior to start and finding 30 hours in the previous 168. If you are aware that you have not had legal rest and yet still choose to not notify the company until after report/start time then you violated FAR 117.

 

I did the right thing and was rewarded for it. I can’t control a schedulers actions. I was probably on hold for an hour. I don’t recall all the details but I know it happened. Technically I was not on a RAP because I knew I was not eligible for any assignment. They were happy I caught it and thanked me. I appreciate your vigilance but I don’t care what your opinion is. If/when the FAA comes to investigate I’ll get more PTO as ALPA defends my actions.

 

I can't tell from your post but as long as you notified the company prior to the start of SC then you are fine. I would even argue that you are fine even if you initiated the call prior to the SC start but were on hold so long that your SC start time passed before you could actually talk to someone. If they then choose to somehow credit you for the SC that's fine as long as the SC period was removed. I was reading form your earlier posts that you let the SC period start and then you called them.