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.