Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Human Factors
I am filing this report to call attention to the fact that is engaging in a policy of intimidating its pilots into not using the Company's fatigue policy. One of our Captain's has been suspended purely and solely for calling in fatigued. I am familiar with the facts of the fatigue call; and it is a textbook case of a pilot; concerned with safety; properly applying the Fatigue Policy that the Company pays so much lip service to. Instead of supporting this Captain the Company; in a fit of retribution; has suspended him and is considering termination.As such; this is a blatant case of Company intimidation of not only this particular pilot but all of its pilots. Currently and in the future any pilot who is wrestling with a decision as to whether he or she is too fatigued to safely operate the flight must include as a factor to be considered that if they call in fatigued they are putting their job at risk.Furthermore; this Company intimidation of its pilots over a determination of safety obviously doesn't stop with its refusal to honor its own Fatigue Policy. As I determine whether I'm fit to report for duty; whether I can agree to a too-low fuel load on the release; or whether to accept an aircraft with multiple MEL's; I must consider the personal risk to my continued employment if I make the correct call with regard to safety.Now; as a Captain I am less susceptible to such intimidation than most; but I am extremely concerned with the significant; detrimental safety impact this action by the Company will have. Word gets around. Just how likely is it that a First Officer on probation; with all the last minute call outs and body-clock swapping zone shifts that entails; will have the nerve to call in fatigued -when actually so fatigued it would be unsafe to fly the trip -when they've heard that a Captain has been suspended for a fatigue call?The Company's Fatigue Policy looks great on paper; but it only exists on paper; not in implementation. They are suspending pilots who actually try to do the right thing by calling in fatigued. This renders the Fatigue Policy null and void; and will result in pilots flying fatigued out of fear of Company reprisals.Immediately suspend those managers responsible for attempting to intimidate pilots into not using the Fatigue Policy and thereby compromising the safety of our airline. Retrain them to actually uphold our safety policies rather than using them as window dressing while ignoring them under the guise of 'operational necessity'. If they prove untrainable; terminate them and hire managers who won't push pilot and who will; in fact; carry out the safety policies; rather than using those policies to intimidate pilots.
Air Carrier Captain reported the company is engaged in a policy of intimidating pilots into not using the company's fatigue policy.