Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Fatigue
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Human Factors
The first two days of the trip were reasonable. However on day 3 there is a significant PM to AM swap. In addition we had weather challenges due to rapidly changing conditions. As a result; I did not get to sleep until after XA00. By day four we had a XE:45 bus scheduled. This night was also scheduled as a minimum rest; less than 12 hours. While this was adequate rest for a couple legs; I felt that continuing on the trip would not be prudent.With minimum rest periods; there is no down time to recover nor opportunity for exercise and eating without cutting out sleep. The frequent swapping of flight attendants adds to the fatigue element. It wreaks havoc on Crew Resource Management. It seems as if crews are in a constant state of flux and uncertainty. Debriefing rarely happens. This current practice seems needlessly disruptive especially in the Q400. With 4 to 5 legs a day; it pushes a difficult trip dangerously close to an unsafe trip. While the swapping of pilots to aircraft has improved; the swapping of a FA (Flight Attendants) is still an issue. We had to perform a missed approach in ZZZ due to rapidly deteriorating conditions. This was challenging enough with adequate rest and four legs. From my experience; the effects of fatigue are most dangerous when they are masked by an adrenaline rush. This is not a time when one wants the margins of safety to be significantly reduced.Maximum of 3 legs to follow rest of less than 12 hours. Reduce number of FA crew swaps in Q400.
Q400 Captain reported safety concerns regarding crew rest and crew swaps following a challenging 4 day trip.