The difference is that on reduced rest, you still have a full day of flying ahead, whereas you can catch up on some Z’s right away on the standup.

And you’re right, there are a number of problems with the way regionals are scheduled and good on you for highlighting it. But of all the lines, short scheduled rest and 14 hour duty days ought to be the big focus here.

Oh you bet the industry will fight him on this one. From a business standpoint, the current staffing models work with some degree of efficiency. When the rules change these businesses are going to have to figure out something new, and that takes time and effort. Translation: change = lost revenue. I get that, and I share your hope that Babbitt sticks to his guns and makes a few changes.

My fear with any increased rest-period would be that companies will still want to get the same amount of work out of the pilots. So instead of flying a three or four day trip with reduced rest, you’ll get five to six day trips with long overnights. Frankly, I’d rather be home than on the road all week. It’s a tough trade-off.

But as you said in your Tweet before, stand-ups are not THE problem. They are simply one of the problems.

My point is that we saw some of the same issues 20 years ago that you’re coping with today.

I fear Mr. Babbitt is going to get quite a bit of push back from the regional airline industry to simply leave things alone.

The trick will be to see how he responds.

I can only speak from my personal experience at my company, but I typically show up to work around 7:00PM well rested from a day at home. I then fly one short leg before heading to the hotel and getting a nap. In almost all cases, I’ll get between five to seven hours of sleep before morning. Although I may feel a little sleepy, I feel perfectly aware and capable of handling any emergency on the homebound leg, even on the last standup of the week.

In general, I am more fatigued at the end of a 4-day trip than I am at the end of a whole week of standups.

And I can’t even begin to praise the quality of life. Unlike most airline pilots, I am home everyday. If I am tired, I sleep. Otherwise, I have the whole day to myself. Furthermore, I get paid guarantee -75 hours – for only 30 hours of work.

The real problem is not in CDOs, but in 5 to 6 legs per day on long trips with minimal and reduced rest periods. That sort of schedule can wear anybody out and makes for dangerously tired flight crews.