Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Distraction
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy
Dispatch sent us an ACARS [message] during sterile cockpit regarding a [flight crewmember] scheduling issue. The message was received [during our approach and landing; a mere eight minutes prior to our block arrival.]Scheduling had already tried to contact me twice via cell phone/voicemail during a single round-trip and were too impatient to wait for me to call them when I returned to base; which is already [contractually] required. They even changed my schedule multiple times during the round-trip; so if I had picked up the first time and been notified; they still would have had to contact me again. They shouldn't be contacting me at all; since I'm required to contact them. Worse; they are now involving dispatchers with resources used for the operation of a safe flight during a high workload flight environment. This has been a repeated abuse and whatever punishment; if any; the company is receiving for misusing the ACARS is not enough to get them to stop.
An Air Carrier Captain expressed his displeasure at his company flight crew schedulers utilizing ACARS communications during critical phases of flight for non flight related purposes; i.e. revising flight crew schedules.