Narrative:

On the afternoon of occurrence; I received a call from the crew desk placing me on an XA00 short call for the next day. Due to the upcoming change to daylight savings time; this was really the equivalent of the usual XB00 short call. The XB00 short call reserve block; exists for the purpose of having a reserve crew member available to cover an XF00 departure. Knowing that I was expected to be ready and rested to cover an XF00 departure; I went to bed early and did my best to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep in case the crew desk called and needed me. In fact; the crew desk did call me a little after XB00; but it was not to cover an XF00 departure. They called to say that they are resetting my rest period and now need me to cover a flight that night. This practice is something that the crew desk has started doing with some regularity; they've done it to me personally 2 or 3 times in the last month. While I'll concede that it complies with the letter of the law (crew rest requirements); it walks all over the intent. Not since I was a teenager could I sleep 16 hours straight. Having just finished 7 hours of sleep and a conversation with the crew desk; I could not possibly go back to sleep for another 8 hours. I had adjusted my body clock as best I could to an XB00 wake-up; and now was expected to fly till after XR00 that night. As is often the case; when I was on my way to the airport the crew desk called to say that my aircraft was delayed by 1 hour 40 minutes. It seems some weather in chicago had slipped everything. I really felt pretty good through the start of the third leg. I am certainly willing to pull myself from a trip if I feel fatigued; but I felt like I was holding up pretty well. It wasn't until we were approaching denver; well after XR00L; that it hit me like a sack of bricks. I was having problems concentrating; and could barely keep my eyes open. I had been doing everything in my power to stay awake (coffee; gum/candy; etc.); but as we entered one of the most critical phases of flight; I had been up for 20 straight hours. This situation was the direct result of an unacceptable scheduling practice. It is not enough to say that it was legal; or that I could have called in fatigued. Both of those are cop-outs. Numerous studies have shown that it is not possible to shift one's body clock by more than about 1 hour a day. The crew desk asked me to shift my body clock by 8 hours in the period of a 60-second phone call! Likewise saying that I could have called in fatigued sounds good on paper; but at FL370 and 30 minutes out from landing; it's not really much of an option. If we are really doing anything more than just paying lip service to safety; the practice of resetting a crew's rest period at the beginning of a duty period has to end. The crew desk needs to use early morning short call reserves to cover morning flying; and afternoon short call reserves to cover evening flying. Using an XB00 short call reserve to cover an entire day's flying is begging for trouble! It is certainly a clever loophole around the FAA's crew rest rules; but it clearly violates the intent of giving aircrews an opportunity to show up to work rested.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-500 flight crewmember addressed poor scheduling practices for reserve pilots. Felt that allowing the schedulers to 'reset' reserves' rest period in the middle of a previously 'set' rest period results in the inability to obtain adequate rest prior to the 'now legal' later assignment.

Narrative: On the afternoon of occurrence; I received a call from the crew desk placing me on an XA00 short call for the next day. Due to the upcoming change to Daylight Savings Time; this was really the equivalent of the usual XB00 short call. The XB00 short call reserve block; exists for the purpose of having a reserve crew member available to cover an XF00 departure. Knowing that I was expected to be ready and rested to cover an XF00 departure; I went to bed early and did my best to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep in case the crew desk called and needed me. In fact; the crew desk did call me a little after XB00; but it was not to cover an XF00 departure. They called to say that they are resetting my rest period and now need me to cover a flight that night. This practice is something that the crew desk has started doing with some regularity; they've done it to me personally 2 or 3 times in the last month. While I'll concede that it complies with the letter of the law (crew rest requirements); it walks all over the intent. Not since I was a teenager could I sleep 16 hours straight. Having just finished 7 hours of sleep and a conversation with the crew desk; I could not possibly go back to sleep for another 8 hours. I had adjusted my body clock as best I could to an XB00 wake-up; and now was expected to fly till after XR00 that night. As is often the case; when I was on my way to the airport the crew desk called to say that my aircraft was delayed by 1 hour 40 minutes. It seems some weather in Chicago had slipped everything. I really felt pretty good through the start of the third leg. I am certainly willing to pull myself from a trip if I feel fatigued; but I felt like I was holding up pretty well. It wasn't until we were approaching Denver; well after XR00L; that it hit me like a sack of bricks. I was having problems concentrating; and could barely keep my eyes open. I had been doing everything in my power to stay awake (coffee; gum/candy; etc.); but as we entered one of the most critical phases of flight; I had been up for 20 straight hours. This situation was the direct result of an unacceptable scheduling practice. It is not enough to say that it was legal; or that I could have called in fatigued. Both of those are cop-outs. Numerous studies have shown that it is not possible to shift one's body clock by more than about 1 hour a day. The crew desk asked me to shift my body clock by 8 hours in the period of a 60-second phone call! Likewise saying that I could have called in fatigued sounds good on paper; but at FL370 and 30 minutes out from landing; it's not really much of an option. If we are really doing anything more than just paying lip service to safety; the practice of resetting a crew's rest period at the beginning of a duty period has to end. The crew desk needs to use early morning short call reserves to cover morning flying; and afternoon short call reserves to cover evening flying. Using an XB00 short call reserve to cover an entire day's flying is begging for trouble! It is certainly a clever loophole around the FAA's crew rest rules; but it clearly violates the intent of giving aircrews an opportunity to show up to work rested.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.