Crown, brother, you will get no follow up. There is no negative consequence to calling in fatigued. It's hard to say, since we weren't there, but it sounds like when you called the DP 'on the fence', he/she didn't really know what to tell you other than, "it's legal." Clearly that came across to you as non-supportive, and that's unfortunate, I'll grant you. But there absolutely will not be a threatening follow up. I cannot say strongly enough that you should have zero worry about that. Truly.

If you think you might be fatigued, you probably are actually past that point, and should 'make the call' and then forget about it. Maybe listen to the "Engage" podcast the MEC put out speaking to this exact issue? It will set your mind at ease. Spotify and Apple have it at least.

Man, you ASKED him for guidance. He's sitting in the OCC, being paid by the company. What do you think he's going to say? He can't read your mind, he can only tell you the facts of the rotation.

Calling in fatigued is easy. "I'm so and so, I'm calling in fatigued for my upcoming trip/SC/this next leg." He or she says, "Ok, what time should I tell scheduling you'll be rested?" ... "Ok, I'm sending you a link to a form you have to fill out within 48 hours." End of discussion.

I can't wait until you're a Captain and you're calling for more gas.

I believe this is the correct answer.

The duty pilot cannot tell you that and I would not want them to tel you that. You are the only one that can determine if you are unfit to continue. Their job is to be our advocate in the OCC but are not able to determine a pilots fitness. Sometimes I am exhausted after a short day and sometimes I still have energy after a long day. If you are fatigued or questioning your fitness, then call in fatigued. No repercussions. The pay will be figured out later. Never had any push back from the duty since the process changed during COVID.

I'm going to pile on here. The way fatigue works is only YOU can tell if you're fatigued. No other person, not a CP, not a FA not the Captain, no one, can tell you whether you are fatigued. You are either are or aren't. If you aren't but can't complete the flying as scheduled, you can just call in unfit to fly and tell them what you are rested enough to do. The Duty Pilot is solely a facilitator. It's not his job to tell you how you feel. Again, see who is allowed to tell you if you're fatigued.

Such a simplistic view of GS vs UNA. With the ebbs and flows of covid, if it weren’t for GS on certain fleets, the airline would be in dire straights IMO.

There’s the other side of the coin with UNA’s. “I went back to my old job and put 100k in the bank.” “My wife works so I fixed up the house, it was great”. Always another story.

thanks Fangs. I appreciate that. I bolded exactly what I was thinking; I called more or less seeking council for a situation that was only getting worse (long EDCTs going into the midwest) and yes, looking back on it, I should have just said "I'm fatigued, see you tomorrow." But again, I was seeking some guidance from the Duty Pilot. Yes, I was hoping he'd help me make a tough decision. Believe me, it's not a lack of confidence or anything like that.

I have a rule calling in sick. If my sick call derails the operation that badly, we have bigger problems at Delta. Maybe I should do the same with fatigue calls.

Anyway, thanks everyone. Even Breezy. We don't agree on much, but I think y'all gave me more grace than I deserved. :)

"Expand your team" is never a bad idea and is encouraged. Just remember most teammates have other loyalties to other teams.

They might agree to that if reserve pilots with less days off than the slip in question go to the bottom of the stack and if they forfeit the prorated PB days in question.

Thinking you're getting 4 days of extra pay and 4-5 PB days on top all because you slipped a 5 day on your 1 day off is just silly.

He didn't say anything about PB days also, just pay. It's a moot point thought. It won't happen.