No he's probbaly joking.......

Yes it is easy to veryify "dude". Calling in and telling the company you're sick is all the verification they need. How else would they? A doctors note? Fax them the back of your medical then. At no point is your company allowed to pressure you into flying sick. If you call in and tell them you're sick that's all they need to know. Anything else is against the regs.

Who's to say he hasn't been sick? What is he going to do if he actually gets sick? Easy. He'll pick up the phone, dial the company number, wait for crew scheduling then say "I'm calling out sick today see ya".

He's not simply NOT showing up for work. He's calling out sick. There are FARs against making a pilot fly sick for a reason. If he gets called to the principles office then there are two things you do.

A) You call your union and make sure you have representation from them at your meeting.
B) You call the FAA and make sure you have representation from them at your meeting.

Your airline will do nothing.

You are an airline pilot and even though you use the word DUDE you should know this. I'm wondering which post is the actual joke here.

4 sick calls in 15 months is NOTHING. I average about 5. I know people who have passed 14 calls this year. In this profession it's easy to get sick. One day I flew from CLE to RDU. CLE was 26 degrees F and RDU was 81 degrees F. I went CLE-RDU, RDU-CLE, CLE-RDU, RDU-CLE that day. The human body isn't built for those types of extreme changes. I went sick the next day. This happens all over the place. No reason to be afraid of it. One time I actually flew feeling a little under the weather the week before the 4th of July and it was the worst decision.

Bryce you do what you gotta do. Try and get there the day before. If that's not an option then call.

 

Four sick calls in 15 months would be nothing at all. If you SAY you're sick, then YOU ARE SICK. The regs clearly state that it is the pilot's duty to determine his/her fitness to fly. It's really as easy as that. The law is on your side. DO NOT FLY SICK. The decision to call in sick when you are sick has nothing to do with how many prior sick calls you have. It is your duty, and the law, to not fly sick.

Now the above applies to when you really are sick.

As far as burning a "sick" call when you have no commuter clause and can't make the commute, well, the company's not really giving you any other options, are they. Do your very best to make the commute, within reason.

I will repeat: Do your very best to make the commute, within reason.

After that, do what you have to do, and don't look back.

 

I agree with duck here, 4 sick calls in 15 months?! thats nothing!

 

Why would you even think about going to work and leaving your home less protected and your wife to sit through a hurricane by herself???. I would not think for more than two seconds about this before I called the CP and said I was going to miss the trip to protect my property and family during a hurricane. If they can't handle that then you have a lot more problems with your company than worrying about calling in sick 4 times in 15 months.

 

What? What crapbag nazi airline do you work for?? Getting fired for four sick calls in a year is preposterous. I've been sick four times this year already, which is not at all surprising considering the nights sleeping in the crew lounge because I can't afford a hotel, the frequent reduced rest, constantly changing time zones, and exposure to the disease-ridden masses on a daily basis. Flying while sick is unacceptable, and if your company pressures people to "limit" how many times they can catch a cold they should be put out of business in this country.

 

Agreed. 4 sick calls in 15 months is no big deal. I've had 3 sick calls totalling 11 days in the last 11 months, no bigee. I've never been called on it, or had to provide any documentation. If you're sick, you're sick, end of story. Don't go flying. Not worth rupturing an eardrum or getting a sinus block. If you do go flying sick and end up like this, you'll be in a whole lot worse of a mess if you experience a decompression in flight. Better hope the other half of the crew can handle it because you won't be able to. Is it worth the risk? I sure don't think so.

 

Bryris.


Probably a good idea just for the simple fact that we now need a doctors note if we call in sick for a trip that has any flying on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Gotta love the fact that we can be trusted with the lives of 50 people and a multi-million dollar airplane, but we are still treated like 3rd graders. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Dude, I say call in sick or call RZ and tell him you have to take care of your wife and your house due to the impending hurricane. Don't bother calling an FM, they will tell you to call Z anyway after giving you the GOM schpeel on why you should be at work. Either way, don't leave the wife there by herself to ride out the storm. Sure fire way to be sleeping on the couch for a while.

 

Our contract says they can require proof, but at their expense. If they ask for a doctors note, then point that out. And it says nothing about you paying for the visit and getting reimbursed. They have to pay for it...they'll probably drop it at that.

 

Your company can require all the doctor's notes in the world and that's fine. But when I call the doctor they make me schedule an appointment a day or two away and by then I might be all better.

 

Having lived in FL my whole life, I ain't scared. This thing is pretty whimpy anyway. Even if it came right over the house, it wouldn't do anything. My wife is totally cool with it. I think the easiest (considering money and the phone call, etc) is to just tough it out, leave tonight, hang in the Lou all day tomorrow, pick up the trip Wednesday, (its only a 2 day), and be back Thursday. By then the storm will have passed and all will be well with the world. My record will still be clean, I'll have a few extra Benjamins in the wallet, and best of all, this whole thing is over and I won't have to stress about it anymore.