Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 225; Flight Crew Total 16000; Flight Crew Type 4000
Fatigue
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy
Even with all the fancy FAR 117 rules the FAA has FAILED. I am still flying just as crappy trips and sometimes MORE so!? Besides the obvious lack of concern from the company because they are 'following the rules; nothing else they can do' mentality. They constantly violate our contract. I know the latter doesn't appear to be a FAA/NASA problem; but when I'm expecting a meal and then none is boarded or worse; it's bad; I go hungry and get a sugar low. I get light headed and obviously I'm now trapped as I can't go out for 5 minutes and pick up something at the airport [fast food] (which isn't nutrition; but better than nothing). Many times crews are forced to pick up food and eat it enroute (cold) as there is less than an hour between flights. Note: how many gate agents eat cold food while at the gate? Have you ever seen a gate agent eating while boarding a flight? They get 30 minutes every 5 hours to eat. Not us. Worst; reason for this report; is that AFTER a redeye flight to IAH (in this example) we are then forced to fly [three more legs] with NO breaks. After a redeye with only 4-5 hours of sleep?!?! It's bad enough to fly one leg back at the end of a four day trip with redeye on day 3 (that arrives in IAH at XA:09 AM day four); however to make us fly a turn before going home; criminal. My body is sweating and I feel ill because my body doesn't know what's going on after an arrival at XAam. Sure; 12 hours seems like enough time to recoup; but it's not. Most of us only get 3-5 hours sleep; then our body wakes up at XIpm. You CAN'T FORCE SLEEP no matter how tired you are... THEN our stomachs growl and we wake up because either food wasn't on the airplane (airport restaurants are closed when [we] arrive at airport and eating so early doesn't cut it at XAam when stomach growling). Food bars and oatmeal only go so far too. To top it off conditions were windy; icing and other factors. Basically it comes down to this... Do you want to be flying on an airplane when BOTH pilots feel like crap? You can only call in fatigued so many times. I can't call in fatigued every other trip. Not realistic and people have families to support and are scared of retaliation. Lets be dead honest why most people/pilots don't report. They are scared for their jobs. They figure I'll just do this only while I'm junior and when I get senior I don't have to worry with it anymore. So to add insult to injury only JUNIOR pilots are placed in this situation (actually not; FAR 117 now makes all pilots schedules poor)? Bad enough an experienced pilot must go through this crap. I've been reporting about this for 20 years. NOTHING has changed with FAR117 and some things are actually WORSE. I'm just reporting this and filing it away to show a paper trail. Lawyers only care about a paper trail. If it were a desk job; sucks; but that's life. Problem is people's lives (YOUR life one day?) is literally in my hands so why let FAA allow these schedules? Oh yea; because of money. Got it.
Air carrier First Officer reports chronic fatigue problem flying the schedules his airline builds; with no help from FAR 117.