A319 first officer expressed concern over flight crew schedules which switch between all-nighters an...

Narrative:

I flew an early morning trip and then was scheduled for a red-eye that same night. I tried twice to get rid of the trip and informed crew scheduling that I didn't think this scheduling practice was safe. Being unable to drop the trip I showed for it and felt fine. I flew the first leg without incident. The return leg I was very ineffective and feel I would have been unable to perform well if we had an emergency. I was nodding off constantly as I was unable to sleep during the day. I felt I had no way out of this situation without disciplinary action. I have no problem with a red-eye but have a very hard time with schedules that flip back and forth between red-eyes and daytime duties. In my opinion these types of practices are unsafe and a problem waiting to happen.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 First Officer expressed concern over flight crew schedules which switch between all-nighters and day time operations. Feels they are unquestionably upsetting to the diurnal cycle of pilots who experience such scheduling.

Narrative: I flew an early morning trip and then was scheduled for a red-eye that same night. I tried twice to get rid of the trip and informed crew scheduling that I didn't think this scheduling practice was safe. Being unable to drop the trip I showed for it and felt fine. I flew the first leg without incident. The return leg I was very ineffective and feel I would have been unable to perform well if we had an emergency. I was nodding off constantly as I was unable to sleep during the day. I felt I had no way out of this situation without disciplinary action. I have no problem with a red-eye but have a very hard time with schedules that flip back and forth between red-eyes and daytime duties. In my opinion these types of practices are unsafe and a problem waiting to happen.

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.

Attributes
ACN	827429
Time
Date	200903
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Other Unsafe Flight Crew Scheduling

A319 first officer expressed concern over flight crew schedules which switch between all-nighters and day time operations. Feels they are unquestionably upsetting to the diurnal cycle of pilots who experience such scheduling.