Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Company Policy; Human Factors
I am a reserve captain; and was finishing day 5 of a 6 day stretch. I was released to rest at 2150 after completing a flight at 2135. I had not received a prior notification of short call reserve for the following day via phone call or email; and had not confirmed via our automated phone system (I was not legally or contractually required to do so). As per the FARs and union instruction; I believed myself to be in rest for 10 hours; after which I expected to be contacted for further assignment on my last day of reserve. This is commensurate with a letter from our Vice President of Flight Operations; stating that 'all pilot reserve activities and schedules are considered 'short-call' and are conducted pursuant to the provisions of 14 CFR 117.21'. To be eligible for a short call reserve assignment; I am required by FAR 117 to receive 10 hours of rest from my previous assignment.I awoke the next morning around 8 AM to a missed call from scheduling that occurred at 1201 AM; with a voicemail 'confirming me' for a short call reserve period starting at 10 AM. I took this as my notification; but upon further inspection; noticed that I had received a missed assignment. I contacted scheduling and was told that since I did not answer my phone at midnight; during my FAR mandated rest period; I was removed from my assignment for the day and would be given the disciplinary mark on my record. I placed this call at 930 AM and reminded the scheduler that I was still available and had not yet missed any assignment. They stated that the missed assignment would remain on my record and only the chief pilot could remove it.I contacted the chief pilot immediately after. I explained the situation and was told that the union and company were actively discussing the disagreement; that I was not the only one who was in this situation; and that the missed assignment would remain until it was sorted out via the normal grievance process or other negotiations. He said several other pilots had recently been terminated for similar issues; and were being told by the company to 'grieve it into the street'. The implication was that; even if the company was in the wrong; pilots would face the difficult choice of breaking an FAR or being terminated and trust that the grievance process would restore their jobs.This incident is an example of a pattern of recent behavior by the company towards its reserve pilots regarding FAR 117. After failing to reach a negotiated settlement to bring our contract in line with the FAR update that occurred over a year and a half ago; the company decided to unilaterally change its interpretation of our existing contract and enact new rules regarding how we were to be confirmed for future assignments. This has led to mass confusion on the part of schedulers; pilots; and managers. Different schedulers interpret the rules in different ways; leading some to believe pilots are all long call reserve until converted to short call; while others believe all pilots to be on perpetual short call reserve. Any disagreement with a scheduler's interpretation by a pilot will generally lead to a threat of punitive action in the form of a missed assignment. This occurrence was an example of a scheduler not understanding that I was in rest and unable to legally answer my phone; and then managers being unable or unwilling to remove this disciplinary mark on my record due to company/union politics. This is a dangerous environment for pilots and passengers. Pilots are unsure as to how FARs are being interpreted by the company via the individual scheduler calling them; and management is attempting to intimidate pilots into complying with illegal assignments or scheduling practices by threatening and enforcing disciplinary actions when pilots attempt to follow FARs (some of which may have been accepted by the company a week or two before). This uncertain and hostile environment leads to pilots either flying tired or illegally; or facing termination from employment for following FARs. It is an unsafe environment and unbecoming a part 121 air carrier.
An air carrier reserve Captain reports receiving a missed call from scheduling after going into a FAR 117.21 mandated ten hour rest period. The company disagrees with the pilot union on how this FAR should be interpreted.