B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Fatigue
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
General None Reported / Taken
I want to report once again my concern about all night flying.  I was up for ten hours prior to flying an all-nighter.  I was able to catch a nap for 3 hours (two hours during daytime proceeding trip). So I was awake for ten hours prior to an all-nighter cross country flight arriving at dawn.  By the time we got to hotel and ready to lay my head down for sleep it was 7:30.  These hotels; no matter how well they do it; leak sunlight through the curtains.  You have to place something over your head to get true darkness in your room.  It is unnatural at best.  Still; I was pretty tired; so I set my alarm to get 8 hrs. I woke up 5hrs later 12:15ish.  My eyes always feel the same; gritty and dry.  I wouldn't call it a headache; but any pilot that flies these pairings would liken the feeling their head has as a slight tightness or headache?!  It reminds me most of international flying where; in order to maintain some semblance of a way to get rest; crews will take a short nap and then get up in (i.e. London; Paris) and trudge through the day so that they can get to sleep later before flying back to the USA.  The difference is they have a 24hr plus layover to coordinate with their body to get that needed rest.  Even still; international pilots will admit this can be tricky and hard at times willing your body to sleep.So to get back in the groove I work out; and eat; and try to take another short :45 to 1hr nap before flying again in the evening.  I have never flown this next leg (the day after the all-nighter with only 12-14 hr layover) where the pilots do not talk about how little sleep or rest they've gotten the night before.  Are we safe?  Are we able to do the job?  This is the conundrum I will continue to bring up.  While I believe we are able to accomplish the mission; I'm am not sure any NTSB BOARD would determine the pilots; after an incident; were 100% in their findings.  Fatigue studies usually use an analogy that the effects of fatigue are similar in nature to alcohol usage and diminished capability in performing a job.  Clear thought process 'may' be affected in these cases.  One might ask the question; if I had 'one' glass of wine or beer at home; am I okay to drive my car?  People go to restaurants every day and have alcohol with their meals and drive cars; but what are the effects on each individual person.  It is an individual choice!Should pilots be put in this position making these decisions in short time constrained periods?  I contend that the answer after an all-night flight is a minimum of 24 hrs off to recover fully from the effects of this circadian shift.  I have had these kinds of pairings and it makes all the difference.  In a 24 hr period the body can adjust and most certainly will create a second sleep period which corrects the circadian rhythm.  This would be in line with the 24hrs off between international flights.  Makes sense; and is logical. I believe pilots are being forced into this decision based on mostly financial and disciplinary action.  The process of calling in fatigued includes the Flight Office making a determination of whether the pilot will be paid or not - this should give the FAA pause; but in the case of my company - that was a piece the company demanded in defining how a fatigue call would be handled.  This is a created red herring that puts a subliminal message in the pilots head to 'fly' or face the music.  Nothing worse than holding money over someone's head. This concept is clever at best; and as I've stated before 'pilots' are mission oriented by nature.  They will get the job done.  In military operations pilots fly to the edge of these body rhythms; so they know their limit -- but is it safe?  Do we liken military operations to commercial carriage of passengers?  Taking chances or pushing limits is just a way of life in military flying; but again are we transferring this concept to commercial aviation?  I should think not!A pilot going from normal day living to an All-Nighter on the first leg of a pairing is immediately entering the Chronic/Circadian disruption phase after completing that first All-Nighter.  While they are fine to fly that first flight; the recovery the next day is problematic.This is only one slide of the training; and the audio goes into much more detail.  Our own training supports what I am talking about; but that little caveat of retribution on pay lingers out there in the pilots decision tree. (Not mentioned of course in the training)I can see the accident report with the pilot stating 'he has bills to pay.' Not a good ending to an accident that could have been prevented.  I write this because the discussion is not being had; and everyone is just happy to go along with the program.  I can only state that any pilot doing an all-nighter and the very next night flying again saying they are fully refreshed and 100% are not being truthful.  Even when I've gotten 8hrs+ sleep on these types of trips; I still do not feel 100%.  It is unnatural to go from a 'day' schedule in normal day to day living; right into an all-night flight.I strongly suggest the FAA look into; interview pilots independently; or survey (unidentified) to hone in on a best practices concerning the increased amount of all-night pairing creation by commercial airlines.  The simple answer is clearly 24 hrs OFF AFTER ANY ALL NIGHT FLYING ASSIGNMENT.  The effects on the body are almost a carbon copy of international flying effects on the body.
B737 Captain describes the fatigue he feels after flying an all-night flight and believes that 24 hours of rest should be required after such flights.