Fatigue; Communication Breakdown
Other fatigue
General Work Refused
Company Policy; Human Factors; Staffing
Continuously; we [reserve pilots] fly all nighters back from Hawaii to San Francisco. We land at either early in the morning and are then expected to be phone available even during our 'crew rest.' It is impossible to sleep in the morning while being expected to keep the telephone on. We are continuously interrupted by outside contacts but are not allowed to turn off our phone. Almost every time on reserve; the pilots are assigned a very early short call assignment for that same night. It is physically impossible to be interrupted from phone availability requirements; get more than 4 hours of sleep that same night; and be fit to fly when called. We are fatigued every time in these circumstances. We have been advised to 'accept the assignment' but if we are called and unfit then to say we are fatigued. In these circumstances; we are questioned by the Flight Office. This is an egregious safety issue when we are continuously expected to comply with 'as per the contract.' I was so fatigued upon an early call from the crew desk after flying an all-nighter; I did not hear my phone until 1.5 hours and four calls later! Now I am punished with five hours of docked pay and an 'Absence' in my record for what is an unsafe practice; for back to back and multiple swing shifts in just a 72 hour period.
An air carrier First Officer addressed debilitating scheduling demands placed on Reserve Pilots at her airline; in particular the requirement that such pilots must remain phone available for new assignments during their contractually limited breaks between assignments.