Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200; Flight Crew Total 34000; Flight Crew Type 7000
Fatigue; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Human Factors
I was assigned a reserve duty period that began at 1 PM. At 1:03 PM I got a phone call from Scheduling and was given an assignment to fly a flight to Mexico and return to [an airport] to clear Customs then return to [our origional departure airport] all in one duty period. I was to operate the first leg and then deadhead the next two. When I asked about the duty period he said it was under 12 hours and legal and that if needed he could fly me an additional 2 hours and even a possible 16 hours total if needed. I questioned whether having to clear Customs and do a turn in Mexico plus the 9 hours or more of flight would add up to a legal 12 hour maximum assignment. It was not apparent to me until I actually reported to work and saw the paring they had built; which showed me reporting at 3 PM and also taking off at 3 PM along with times way; way under normal block for an airplane that had to maintain within 162 NM of the coast line; that they had made up a bogus Trip Pairing to appear to be in the 12 hour maximum duty period as per the FAR. I called and told the Chief Pilot's Office to review this and was told I would have to make the decision but it would not go very well if I called in fatigued before the trip; but if I were going to do that I should do it sooner rather than later so they could assign it to someone else. It was implied I would most likely have to come in on a day off and explain why I did not take the flight. When I checked in; I saw the Trip Pairing showing 11:55 Duty Period; but still had us taking off at 3 PM and it was then 2:49 PM and I was at the computer checking in. I arrived at the gate at 3:10 and found they did not have the crew members listed; which took another 30 minutes to sort out and get our names on the paperwork. While talking to Scheduling; I mentioned the issue of having a bogus departure time and they corrected it to 4:15. This now by their records put us at a scheduled 12:25 Duty Period. This is what I had been telling them all a long- IT WAS NOT A LEGAL PAIRING! The other Captain and First Officer scheduled to deadhead down and fly the last two legs arrived at the gate about this time with all the same concerns we had. She was talking with the Chief Pilot's Office and could not get them to do anything about the illegal assignment. They only told her to fly it and file a grievance. And knowing that she too would have to visit the Chief Pilot on a day off and explain why she reluctantly got on the flight. Everyone knew Scheduling was building a pairing that was intended to look legal but none of the times added up and their intention from the beginning was to make it look like some unforeseen issue had occurred which caused it to be extended to 14 or more hours. Table B of FAR 117 says we can only be scheduled for 12 hours of duty if we report after 1 PM local. They made us start the trip with 12:25 on the trip sheet. We flew this pairing with 56 minutes turn in Mexico and 1:08 to unload and clear Customs and take back off again and ENDED UP WITH 13:44 DUTY TIME! We all knew when we arrived in [the airport for Custom's] we would be done for the day - but when we arrive in [the airport with Customs] the very first thing the Gate Supervisor said to me and the other Captain was 'I only have one 35 passenger bus and there are no hotel rooms [here] (actually later she did say she found 13 rooms). You have to get these passengers to [their final destination].' The other Captain had been off high minimums only about 1 week. I called Scheduling and they said we had a wheels-up time of 3:12 AM. This took us to the 14 hours they had always planned on flying us. The most concerning thing of all was on our arrival into [the airport with Customs] I was sitting in the second row in First Class and at about 1;000-1;500 AGL I heard a GPWS warning followed by an escape maneuver- GOT MY ATTENTION! Why did this happen - they were tired! This Captain; although new in the left seat; was in the TrainingDepartment for many years as an instructor on the Airbus. She is very competent and flies the aircraft much better than most but fatigue had set in. When you go on duty at 1 in the afternoon you don't expect to be flying at 3 or 4 in the morning. A less competent pilot may have messed up the escape maneuver and they might be picking people off the hill today. What did we; as crew members do wrong?  We let it happen and worried about Chief Pilot and Company pressure along with loss of pay more than safety.  What did the Company do wrong?  Scheduling thought they could play games with numbers and get into the 2 additional hours not intended to be used as a part of a normal assignment to build an unsafe for operations pairing.  What did the Chief Pilot's Office do?  Not their Job!  Which is to provide guidance and prevent unsafe operations from happening. Instead they put undue pressure on the flight crews by making it very apparent if they turned down the trip they would be looking into why. Had they questioned the actions of the Scheduler; this pairing might not have been flown.
A321 Captain describes a trip paring assignment that does not meet the new FAR 117 rules and the lack of any guidance from the Chief Pilot's Office.