B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200; Flight Crew Total 10000; Flight Crew Type 2500
Physiological - Other
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
Human Factors; Company Policy
In the last 30 minutes before walking out the door for my commute flight up to work; I noticed that I was beginning to experience very mild aches in my upper back. I thought about what I should do. I was thinking; will this actually turn into some type of illness or is it just temporary muscle aches. Unfortunately; my very next thought was the new sick policy tracking guidelines that I just read through a few days before. I felt heavily influenced by my; mostly vague because of its complexity; memory of the criteria that puts a pilot on tracking. I felt that it would possibly put me in jeopardy if I called the company to be put on sick list at this point so close to the departure of my trip. I took some Advil for the minor aches; got some rest on the commute flight up and felt fairly normal the rest of the evening. Half way to [the airport] I started feeling very fatigued and even though I took some more Advil. I informed the Captain that I was beginning to not feel too well. It was 2 am on our body clocks; so it was confusing to determine whether the symptoms were simply from fatigue. I suppose; in hindsight; that some adrenaline was keeping me going and the Captain asked if I was okay for the approach and landing; I said that I was. Quickly after we blocked in my symptoms began to increase; by the time we got to the hotel I began experiencing uncontrollable chills and realized that I would not be fit to fly the next day. Subsequently; I was diagnosed with the flu. The reason I described these events and submitted this safety report is because in hindsight; I was unfit to fly this flight for many reasons; not to mention the likelihood of spreading my flu to other crew members. I also felt that the company's new sick policy forced me into making a poor decision against my better judgment.
A commercial pilot was not feeling well but elected to take over-the-counter medication and continue his commute to work. Later; while functioning in the capacity of First Officer; his symptoms worsened. Subsequently; he was diagnosed with the flu. He reported that the company sick policy influenced his decision to continue working.