So what do you guys think this will mean for hiring/recalls? Its hard enough for the airlines to keep the pilots within their rest times as is!

The possible flip side is that mandated longer overnights may require the use of two crews to cover the late pm arrival and the early am departure. We have often used one crew on reduced rest for that. Not sure how many majors use that technique, if any?

NPRM - New FAR Sep 14 2010
 

14 CFR Parts 117 and 121
Docket No. FAA-2009-1093; Notice No. 10-11
RIN 2120-AJ58
Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements

First of all many contracts require 3/4 pilots for current ops so they won't be changing anytime soon barring another massive event.

In any case, I'm writing my congress critter about this very issue. It's one thing to do 9-10 hours block in the lower 48 where you are pretty much never more than 20-30 minutes away from a suitable airport. But a 180 ETOPS oceanic crossing when something happens to one pilot, suddenly that's a really, really BMFD.

That can NOT be allowed to happen. If it is, pilot groups with current pilot staffing required in their CBA's need to go to the mat with that issue (and not give up scope to keep it either).

What doesn't look good is the fact that we can all kiss our days off goodbye. They (the companies) are not going to hire to cover the open holes in the schedule. We are going to be working more days for less pay. Even if we are guaranteed 4 hours, it's going to take 20 days to make up the minimum they need for coverage.

We are all going to be at contract minimums for days off. VERY unproductive days with fewer days for for even less pay will take the suck factor of this job up just one more step.

Nah. At most airlines, there's a 3.5:1 or 3.75:1 trip reg. We might be unproductive, but we'll still get paid for being gone.

We'll get paid but that is not going to account for the additional days we'll have to be gone. We won't be flying as many hours a day, the company is not going to want to hire and train more pilots to cover the flight hours they need too. We'll be working min days off and unproductive days at that. My idea of work is not 3 hours of flight time, 9 hours of duty to sit in a hotel for 19 hours everyday only to block 15 hours for the four day.

Why would your days get less productive? Wouldn't that just make the company have to hire more pilots and get more hotel rooms? There is X amount of flying to be done every day. If each pilot does less actual flying, then more pilots will be needed to cover it. If they get more pilots on a daily basis by cutting days off to the contract min, then they are still paying more by hotel - and giving lots of incentive for days off to be returned in negotiations. As someone else mentioned, if the suck factor gets too high, people will walk away from the job in large numbers. Its pretty close to that point now - and management knows it.

I think things will not change very much. The company will still try to minimize their costs by flying as tight a schedule as they can.

Long term, this really can't happen. How many guys would stick around the regionals or the lower end of the majors if they had to work 5-6 on, 1-2 off for the rest of their lives. Yeah all the office workers do it but they get to go home every night.

For me I need about 15 days off to break even as far as my quality family time goes. I mean ask yourself... would you really stick with a job where you were on the road 5 days a week?

The only way the airlines might get away with it would be go to outstation basing so everybody could be home each night. You would come in, do one or two hub turns and be done.

I loved this comment from the FAA PDF:

So, while unexpected delays are allowed for occasionally, chronic extensions for known weather and ATC problems may not be allowed. We'll see how well this is enforced!