This post applies to Pinnacle, but I would guess things like this happen at many airlines.

Is anyone concerned about Cockpit Safety at Pinnacle with all the things that are going on? The whole contract(violations and lack of a new contract) and pass travel deal has caused a lot of external pressures on the flight crews.

Along with all the memo's about being fatigued/sick/absent/Junior Assigns/Extensions/ACARS.

How about the ACARS messages for the CA/FO/FA to call crew scheduling. How does this have anything to do with the current flight that is operating? Just another non-essential item added to the back of the crews mind. Now the CA/FO is ****ed because they don't get to go home anymore...

These are all distractions that the crew does not need. I think these distractions are causing the crews to lose focus on the task at hand and could possibly cause a bad situation down the road.

Does anyone else think the company is impairing our ability to do our job safely with all these distractions they're causing?

What are your thoughts?

personally i think the worrying and constant brain puzzling of commuting to and from home is a big strain and tiring in itself. flying the plane is enjoyable. but not anything else ! haha

i stopped paying attention to the company over 3 years ago. i have a lot of red blocs on my crewtrac, but thats ok
if i am sick, i call in sick. if i am fatigued, i call in fatigued. if i get extended i refuse the extension. if i get junior manned, i get a junior man refusal. eventually they just leave you alone.

If I get an acars from crew scheduling during a critical phase of flight I submit a flight safety report.

Whats ACARS?

(Sarcasm intended, I fly a POS Saab with as much technology as a microwave oven, but I still love her.)

That is not a bad idea at all. I think everyone should follow this habit.

And while you’re submitting it, I think you should print a copy for yourself and fax it into your state representative. Let them know what kind of crap is going on these days with regards to the scheduling practices.

Organization's can very easily cancel a furlough and stay a little on the fatter side to avoid extensions, junior assignments, etc, etc, but as we all know... there is a race for the bottom. Let your voice be heard.

Are your Saabs equipped with the archaic Universal FMS or are you all VORs and ADFs? And I'm pretty sure that a microwave oven is a step up in technology.

The other day I got an ACARS to call screw scheduling at around 12,000 ft. I wanted to reply back with "How does this pertain to the current phase of flight?"

I was thinking about filing flight safety reports for each one we get...Not sure how much good it will do. I would def file one if its during sterile cockpit.

Submit an ASAP report with a NASA form regarding the company violating sterile cockpit regulations with ACARS messages that are unrelated to the safety of your flight.

Better yet, get a real contract that stipulates that ACARS messages are not official crew notification. Then ASAP them each and everytime they do something stupid that endangers your flight. Oh, that's right.... all regionals are the same... aren't they now. More subtle nuances....