Originally Posted by RonRicco

If we kept the ability to keep the phone off for 9 hours at anytime, with 117 it basically would turn long call into a 19 hours.
mine: (perhaps they should have hired sooner?)

Eliminating the ability to turn off the phone and requiring an acknowledgement within two hours, is certainly much more onerous on the long call pilot. Besides that ability to have your phone off for sleep, it also restricts your ability to do activities that have you out of cell coverage, or where your phone may not even work (ever been to a college football game with ATT, can't get a text off half the time). So what we would have would basically be "acknowledgement short call" within a long call period.

Originally Posted by Check Essential

Textbook answer in common law regarding changes to contractual obligations forced by a change in statutory law:

A contract is discharged when its performance is made illegal by a subsequent change in the law. For example, suppose there is a contract to construct a three story building at a particular place. Prior to beginning construction, a zoning law is passed which prohibits such a building in this area. The contract would be discharged. However, a change of law that merely increases the cost of one of the parties is not a “change of law” that discharges the contract. For example, Mack made a contract with Richard to build an apartment house for a specific price. A number of serious apartment house fires later occurred in the city, and an ordinance was adopted by the city council increasing the fire precautions that had to be taken in the construction of a new building. Compliance with these new requirements would make the construction of the apartment house for Richard more expensive than Mack had originally contemplated. Is Mack discharged from the contract to build the apartment house? No. Mack must perform the contract even though it has been made more expensive to do so because of the change of law. Mack is not discharged from the contract, because the change of law did not prohibit the construction of the building but merely made it more expensive to build. - See more at: Discharge and Substitution of a Contract - Discharge ? Performance - Contracts

Originally Posted by johnso29

The SEC Championship game is a shoot out right now!

Originally Posted by PilotFrog

Great SEC Championship game going on. Good 117 thing is you won't be changed out of a SC rest into a flight and lose the sc credit now I think.

Originally Posted by Dash8widget

The contract doesn't specifically give a nine hour uncontactable window for long calls - it's more of an implied thing. What it does say though, is that a long call pilot does not have to acknowledge an assignment until 3 hours prior to report. Starting next month, if you wait until you are within 10 hours of report (but more than 3) to acknowledge your assignment, you are no longer legal to fly the trip. BUT, you are still well within the your contractual rights - discipline wise, the company cannot do thing to you. And, as long as you don't actually fly the trip, the FAA could care less.

The company cannot ignore our contract in this case nor can they just unilaterally impose a two hour acknowledgement window - they are just hoping that as a pilot group we cooperate. Remember they cannot require you do something that is A. Illegal and B. Not in our contract.