Calling out sick while on a trip
 

Im fairly new to 121 flying so I would like to hear some opinions on this.

On a layover at a small outstation, you wake up with a head cold or other sickness that you felt would prevent you from completing the rest of the trip. Feeling well enough to fly the one leg back to the main base, would you give crew scheduling a heads up before flying the one leg so they can have enough time to get the rest of the trip covered? Or would you wait until you landed, knowing it would likely cause a delay (or possible cancellation) of the next flights?

Ive heard its ok to call before (and I would like to be helpful when possible), but would this open you up for legal issues as to whether or not you were fit to fly the one leg back to base?

I've done that numerous times with no ramifications. Remember two things:

The FAA says only the pilot can determine if he is fit for duty. If you determine you are good to go for one leg, but not the rest of the trip, that is your call and your call alone.

You are doing crew sked and your company a huge favor by giving them a heads up and getting the airplane to a crew base where they can cover the trip with very little heartburn.

Personally, I have never been questioned about any sick call, much less one of these.

Give as much notice as you can to keep the heat off yourself. On the otherhand I've called out after waking up to start a trip due to extreme vomiting. They probably weren't happy but I was being responsible.

I agree. I've done it multiple times myself, & never heard a peep about it.

What benefit do you personally get from calling out sick before the flight? None, maybe besides feeling like you're being a good guy helping out the operation. The desire for that feeling will wear off quickly.

What negative do you get from calling out sick before the flight? You're putting it on record that you're sick and then going and flying an airplane. The company isn't going to beat you up over it because they're getting what they want - the flight completed. But if something goes wrong, even if it has nothing to do with being sick... like say you bust a crossing restriction and end up talking to the FAA about it... you can bet the farm that you're going to wish you never mentioned being sick. That crossing restriction issue is going to be a slight afterthought compared to what the FAA might do to you for flying while impaired by illness.


Call out sick when you are sick. Don't say anything about being sick when you're good enough to still fly. Do yourself a favor and watch out for yourself first, you're the only one who will. Doing the company favors isn't going to get you anywhere. Delays, calling out reserves, crewmember changes, scheduled changes, and sick calls are a part of running an airline.

Your job is to be fit for duty when you fly and remove yourself from duty when you're not. The same goes for fatigue calls. Never say "I'm going to be too fatigued to fly the second half of my day" when you still plan on operating flights between now and then.

I've gotten sick at the outstation before. I woke up with the stomach flu (thought it was the Subway I ate then went to bed right away on a reduced rest) so went about my morning stuff thinking it would go away. By the time I got to the airport with the crew, I knew it was more than just a upset stomach. I forced everything down (and in...) for the trip back to base and then called in sick. They had to burn the standby, but that's what they are there for. Went home and spent the rest of the day paying homage to the porcelain god.

I would caution STRONGLY against giving the company a "heads up." While chances are the scheduler would appreciate it and that could be the end of it, if the wrong person gets a hold of that and it makes it back to your CP, you might get accused of "flying while unfit" and have to answer the usual "What if there was an emergency?" question. Remember, no good deed goes unpunished.

When in doubt, keep it simple. Get back to base, call in sick. But at the same time, if you are SO sick that you cannot continue, dont! It is a judgement call on a gray area.

Another one I've thought of, at my airline we sometimes do flying through other bases. Instead of just Base-Outstation-Base-Outstation, it may go Base-Outstation-Different Base. What if you trip doesn't send you back to your own base for a while? Things to consider.

Those saying they've done this and have had it go well is because the company is thrilled that you'll fly sick and they've been lucky to not have anything bad happen on these flights and have things "looked into."

If you are legitimately sick, don't worry about catching flack, the heat being put on you, etc for calling in sick, even if it is one minute before departure. It isn't safe, it isn't legal, and people get sick... calling in sick is a perfectly normal thing to do.

Same here. I've also had to call out in the middle of a trip at an out station because I couldn't leave the bathroom. It sucks when that happens, but there's nothing you can do.

If you can tough it out and fly the one leg back and give then a heads up you'd be doing everyone a favor!

I'd be careful doing that. Phone calls (at least for most companies) are recorded, so there is a ...record of it. Therefore, in the unlikely event that something did happen, you could get yourself into a hairy situation.

You figure "Oh, I'll just do this one leg, it'll be fine." But if you are in the process of getting sick, what if your condition suddenly worsens? Now you can't say, "Oh I had no idea before I left" because you are on record saying that you didn't feel well but went on the flight anyway. Depending who you fly for, there is probably at LEAST 2 hours from the time you call scheduling until you make it to the hub, so a lot can happen in that time frame.

Bottom line is, yes, likely nothing will come of it, and you might make the scheduler's life a little easier. But is that really worth the risk?

Personally, I wouldn't call scheduling until I was officially calling in sick. Not, "Hey, I'm good now, but 2.5 hours from now, I'm going to be sick."

Again, the FAA says ONLY YOU can determine your fitness to fly. You might wake up with a tickle in your throat knowing full well that in six hours you're gonna be in a full blown head cold.

If you are good to fly back to any base, I'd give them a heads up, get the plane there and go home.

But, that's just me.

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Also going to throw this out there since I am sure the germaphodes will chime in soon - consider the other crew member - if you are contagious with something, you might be doing them a favor and not flying. If you do fly, make sure you wipe down as much as you can with the sani wipes. Not sure if those do anything, but at least anything you touch might not turn into a petri dish.

Our company policy is that if you give them a "heads up", they pull you off immediately. Once the words "sick" or "fatigue" get thrown out, game over.

If you go on tape as being sick, even if you think you're good for one more leg and something happens you will probably be violated for intentionally flying sick. Intentional violation = no ASAP/ASRS.

If you're going to gut it out, just call in when you get there. A "heads up" helps the company but at the expense of risking your certificate.

Another thing I forgot to mention earlier. Calling in sick for the future sure can look suspicious if you have the wrong scheduler or chief pilot looking into your situation. If you're good enough to fly now, one would have to assume that you don't know if you'll be good enough to fly later or not. You might get better over time. A chief pilot who has it out for you might interpret this good deed as a "I'm fine to operate back to base but I have a golf tee-time this afternoon and I'm going to be sick for the rest of my day."

Can you prove his assumption wrong? If he's already thinking along these lines.... likely, no.


No kidding. I hate people who fly sick. I have caught way too many peoples' "allergies" over the years.

I'm sorry you burned all your sick calls for vacation and now you can't call in sick when you actually are sick. Your horrible planning should not become my problem. Stay home.

If you must give the company a heads-up prior to getting to base, do it enroute. Much easier to answer the mail that way.

I agree. Send them a heads up on the ACARS if your planning on doing this. Then it would be more like you became sick enroute. No big deal they will cover at the next landing.

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What he said.

Never say anything on a potentially recorded line that you would not want on the front page of the USA Today. Same goes for writing in the logbook.

Once in the air inform the company that they must replace you on arrival at XXXX. Then not another word in the air, done. Call upon your arrival and inform them that you are sick, done, not another word.

This is one of those things when less is more.

I was going to say you guys sure are paranoid, but I guess it isn't paranoia if they really are out to get you. It must suck to work at a place like that.

I have done the "warning" of not feeling well but I could do one leg. That was later followed up by the CP calling and telling me I was calling in sick and could no longer complete my day. Did not get in trouble, but if you are sick you are sick.

Exactly. Especially the last sentence.

Even if the company's not out to get you on something like this, the FAA probably is.

And what do you think will happen if you call in ORD to let your company know that you are "feeling a cold coming," and will be calling sick in SEA when you get back for the next leg, but that you are "ok" for this leg........ and then an accident happens? You can bet the FAA will track this phone call down, and it will be reported at the NTSB hearings. What do you think the victims family members will say? What do you think that will do to your family, when you are dead and can't speak/defend yourself?

Yup, My thoughts exactly. You are sick. You are sick. Either call in sick right away, or tough it out.

I am not parinoid at ALL, but I am not going to step on my "crank".

You can not un-ring a bell, FACT.

My log book write ups consist of the light/warnings that came on and CW (complied with) QRH page xx.xx.x and FOM page xx.xx.x.

Period, you want more get the CVR/Data recorder.

Especially considering in this world where a media writes that the FO sent a text in EWR, and then later that aircraft crashed. That is fact, in regards to the Colgan crew. What do you think they'll do if they find out you were coming down sick? The media will tear you apart (which will really hurt your family, because you'd be dead), the victims, their families, the FAA and NTSB will all come down hard on you.

Yeah, and then I will have to get a flu shot along with filling out 45 PRIA pages, get my college transcript... all to get kicked out because I didn't dot my I, on my pre interview packet.

That's what I was thinking. Granted, it's an extreme case, but ACARs messages are recorded/saved.

Along the lines of what you said regarding Colgan, long after the crash and the general media started to forgot about it, some outlets made note of the FACT that the FO talked about being sick, but was worried about pay/punitive action, etc on the CVR.

In a bizarre coincidence, my company changed their sick call policy to where a Dr.'s note on a sick call WON'T count towards the allotted "occurrences" in a rolling 12 month period.

There's a fine line between cya and being a selfish paranoid person... Learn to walk the line :) personally I've only done this once and I woke up not feeling too hot but I was fine for the flight home. That's exactly what I told scheduler. If I do get a violation or into an incident/accident, what is so hard about defending your judgement? Of course cover yourself in handy wipes for the sake of ther crew members. I'm not company guy at all, but I do care about not messing up passengers' plans/connections/other offline pilots commuting home, etc...

Exactly, skyx. I'm all for the Union taking care of us, but if we don't take care of the passengers, we won't have jobs.

Don't say a word until you actually call out sick.

If you're sick, you are sick. Call in sick. Then, stay in the hotel, or non-rev home, or go get a room, but DO NOT jumpseat.

If you call with a head's up you're opening yourself up to a world of hurt from multiple angles, as already explained above. I know my company will pull you off when you call in to "give them a head's up" which is actually in your best interest since it is clear-cut and dry. If you think you can make it a leg, you make it a leg. If you can't, you can't. The company has reserves. You won't be the first to call out mid-trip. It sucks, but it happens. Don't make a habit of it.