Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Time Pressure
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural MEL / CDL
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy
In August I showed for my pairing supposed to begin with a XA:40 showtime for a XB:40 departure. When I showed at the airport at XB:40 AM I saw that I was removed from my original trip-pairing and instead put on a longer 4 leg day starting with a turn. The pairing that Scheduling added would have been illegal to schedule according to current FAR's as it would have been over 13 hours of scheduled FDP. Instead scheduling opted to cut my showtime to just 30 minutes (a XA:40 show for a XB:10 departure...duty end scheduled at XN:25 for a total of 12:45) so that my total FDP would remain below 13 hours. That created additional problems beyond just legality concerns. My crew was never notified that I would show only 30 minutes prior departure. When I got to the gate the plane was already boarded. That violated several policies as follows: Station Policy Reference TB13-03: 'The customer Service Agent will confirm that at least one pilot has determined the aircraft is airworthy and that the required number of flight-attendants are on-board and in position for boarding to begin.' That did not happen since no pilot confirmed the airplane to be airworthy. The General Operations Manual Reference 11-3-5-1 'The Captain will assemble the complete crew compliment and conduct a predeparture briefing prior to the first flight leg of the trip-pairing and at any crew change during the trip.' That could not happen since the plane was already boarded and the Flight Attendants could not leave their stations with passengers on board in order to conduct that briefing.  Aircraft Operations Manual Reference 13.5.2.3 B.1. 'Prior to boarding passengers the first flight of the day as walk around inspection of the aircraft will be performed to assure it's airworthiness.' That did not happen since the FO did not know that I was showing 30 minutes late and since I was not there I could not have delegated it to be done by the FO anyways. By cutting my showtime to 30 minutes prior departure the company did not only circumvent my 13 hour FDP limit as set forth in FAR 117 but also created an avalanche of policy-violations and safety concerns. In addition the scheduled flight-time was over 8 hours and; while still legal according to FAR's; was still a violation of the pilot work-rules. But that will be discussed in a different venue; I suppose! Narrative About Possible Preventative Measures: Do not cut the showtime of the CA to 30 minutes prior departure.That is not enough time to do all the required preflight duties in the proper sequence as required by our manuals. Especially not to circumvent the FAR's so that the crew could operate otherwise illegal trip-pairings. If it means a flight leaves late than so be it...safety and security should always come first. And if the company does not have enough crew-members to staff the flight in order to schedule them within the FAR's limits then the flight just shouldn't operate or they should hire more personnel to mitigate such problems in the future. There seems to be a culture in this company to pressure crew-members to 'just operate the flight' by presenting them with scenarios like the one just described hoping that the crew-members will violate the very procedures that they put in place in order to avoid being called in for a carpet-dance.
This airline Captain describes Crew Scheduling action that circumnavigates and violates the intent of FAR 117 on several levels with specific reference to Company Operating Manual requirements.