What's the difference? The Whitlow rules are a legally binding interpretation of the FARs. Just curious.

"Hey, if we don't take off here soon I'm going to duty out."

"Says who?"

"Well, it's the Whitlow rule."

"Who is Whitlow?"

That's Deputy Chief Counsel Whitlow to you braahh.

Whitlow is a special rule concerning what is rest. Whitlow rest is not the same as rest that might be required for 24 and 7 as a example. Also most flight time rules are soft limits. Whitlow is a hard limit. Just because you get off the gate in time does not make you Whitlow legal as with some other limits. Contractual rest and whitlow rest are also different. If you are on shortcall your whitlow rest clock is ticking however being on shortcall has no effect on contractual duty day until you actually report for a trip.
All this changes next Dec so get ready to learn it all over again!

Look guys, both Sailing & Jerry. Maybe I misunderstood the rest issue. This is a very complex issue. No need to be so "in your face." Here is a copy of an email I received from SL (scheduling chair) when I had this issue. It involves rest that is designated 24 hour rest due to the 8 day stretch.

"The only way they can assign you something that starts immediately after your rest is if you were notified of that prior to entering said rest. If you do not have such notification, then the earliest they can give you an assignment would be five hours after rest ends if the assignment was placed on your line prior nine hours before rest ends or 10 hours for SC/12 hours for a rotation if placed after the nine hour point. They can call you all they want during rest and you have absolutely no obligation to answer the phone. Your acknowledgement of an assignment would be three hours before report or two hours before a SC start."

It is treated like an x-day that starts at a different time. I was wrong on how soon the trip can start. A major point is that you don't have to respond until after the rest, but that may only give you 5 hours to report. I never said or implied that the pilot should no-show the trip.:(

It's not complex. It's just not explained well because ALPA refuses to give bad news when they disagree with something. The comment about no showing the trip was tongue in cheek and wasn't directed at you. It's my standard answer when someone asks me about this. The length of that email is unnecessary though and lends too much credence to the argument that you're interrupting rest by dealing with a schedule check. All you have to say is "it's an X day. Treat it as such."

It's just an incredibly frustrating issue because its a high point of risk for RES pilots, it typically doesn't allow for what would be considered a 24 hour break for a commuter, and the 24 hour breaks are typically placed at what seems like the maximum inconvenience for the pilot. When the bid packages changed to allow the FAR illegal RES bids for the domestic fleets, the ground rules should have been made a bit more clear. That way everyone on RES wouldn't be having this problem - and I assure you it's a common problem.

FWIW, the other thing about rest is that there must be "constructive notification". You MUST be informed that a period is rest, BEFORE the period actually starts. No looking back, after the fact, and saying "oh, well, we didn't
use you for 24 hours, so there's your day off".

Rest and duty limits, up until now, have been pseudo soft. Legal to start, legal to finish, with some exceptions. The Whitlow interpretation changed that somewhat, especially on the application to reserves ("how can it be rest if I have to answer the phone?").

The NEW rest and duty rules will be MUCH harder limits, and will be a bear to track for the line guy. Lets hope they "have an app for that".

Nu

Ooooh good idea on the app. I'm all over it, just gotta figure out what the rules are first.

Whitlow?? Who cares about that guy and his rule. I hate Murphy and his Law. People calling in sick all month led me to work 61 hrs this month. Now I throw in a yellow slip to try and go over guarantee and you know what? Nothing. Hate that Murphy guy.

You know, Chile is well worthwhile, and the fee is good for the life of the passport. You'll spend less on the reciprocity fee + departure tax than you'd spend on departure tax alone out of Heathrow. This is the best time of the year to go to Chile as well, my wife and I were there last Christmas/New Years. Perfect weather and long days, especially as you go south.

We didn't have any kids with us but saw plenty of other tourists who do, I'd say the entire country is quite family-friendly. I will say the things on offer are most appropriate for older children. IE Valparaíso is beautiful, but there's a ton of walking, hill climbing, & stairs involved. There's a ton of stuff to do in the mountains and valleys around Pucon, much of which an older child would enjoy - hiking, sailing, ziplining, rafting, horseback riding, hot springs - but a younger kid not so much. If you have the time, the 4-day journey through the Patagonian fjords from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales on the Navimag ferry is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and many people brought 8-18 year old kids - but I can imagine a young child being bored witless on the ship, it's not a Disney Cruise by any stretch of the imagination!

From Puerto Natales, if you go that far, you can hike the Torres del Paine national park, cross into Argentina to El Calafate, see the Perito Moreno glacier (incredible!), hike at El Chalten, and either fly from El Calafate to Buenos Aires or backtrack to Punta Arenas CL and fly back to Santiago. We did Santiago-Pucón-Puerto Varas-Navimag-Puerto Natales - El Calafate - El Chaltén - Buenos Aires in two weeks, and I'd consider that a bare minimum for that itinerary. With a week, you could comfortably do Santiago, Valparaíso, and Pucón.

Hope you go - gorgeous country, nice folks, not very expensive once you get past the reciprocity fee (which is a function of what the US charges their citizens for a visa).