Narrative:

[I] started a 3 day trip with day 1 a XA45 report; I dutied out on day 3 at XW13. I was supposed to start another 3 day pairing on day 3 at XI50. This legally gave me 10hrs 37min in base to get the 'rest' I am required to have. Basically this is 5 consecutive duty days with a 10hr 37min sit in base in the middle of the day to get my rest.the first day of the trip concluded with 7 legs and an arrival time at the layover station at XQ06 which was 2hrs and 26min late. By the time we reached the hotel and went to bed it was XR00. The hotel here is perfectly placed next to a cereal factory and the railroad yard. Needless to say; trains at XU30am are not conducive to those trying to sleep. Day 2 was 4 legs with a reduced rest at the layover. We arrived at base ahead of schedule and I concluded that trip at XW13. After the previous events and lack of sleep the previous 2 nights I felt not only fatigued but also that I could not get the rest I needed due to the time and day and would be unfit to start my other 3 day trip that evening. I contacted scheduling and informed them I was fatigued and was told I could not call fatigued by our chief pilot and that he would mark me as unavailable and take me off the whole trip. I informed him that I didn't feel fit to start the trip but would like to pick up the remainder the next day as it came through base. I explained that I hadn't received adequate sleep and was told that I had my 10hrs in base and basically that was sufficient and he would not treat this as a fatigued call.in my opinion this is a violation of the 'ask no question fatigue policy.' who has the right to determine if I am fit for duty 10 hours in base or not? Can you sleep in the middle of the day at a hotel? I can't. No one except for myself can determine my condition to start a duty period.first there should not be two pairings in the same day assigned to any pilot. No one; including management; has the right to make the decision for a crew member who feels unfit for duty. Marking this as an 'unavailable' is a threat or strike against me and should be removed and marked fatigued. Move the bad layover hotel to another location. Get rid of 7 leg days and trips with reduced rest built into every pairing. Everyone knows the delays that base experiences. This only adds to the stress and workload of a 7 leg day or a reduced rest overnight. Why not have other crews take a flight if there will be a significant delay to relieve another crew?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A commuter air carrier pilot alleges company coercion regarding fatigue-inducing flight crew scheduling by his airline.

Narrative: [I] started a 3 day trip with Day 1 a XA45 report; I dutied out on Day 3 at XW13. I was supposed to start another 3 day pairing on Day 3 at XI50. This legally gave me 10hrs 37min in base to get the 'rest' I am required to have. Basically this is 5 consecutive duty days with a 10hr 37min sit in base in the middle of the day to get my rest.The first day of the trip concluded with 7 legs and an arrival time at the layover station at XQ06 which was 2hrs and 26min late. By the time we reached the hotel and went to bed it was XR00. The hotel here is perfectly placed next to a cereal factory and the railroad yard. Needless to say; trains at XU30am are not conducive to those trying to sleep. Day 2 was 4 legs with a reduced rest at the layover. We arrived at Base ahead of schedule and I concluded that trip at XW13. After the previous events and lack of sleep the previous 2 nights I felt not only fatigued but also that I could not get the rest I needed due to the time and day and would be unfit to start my other 3 day trip that evening. I contacted scheduling and informed them I was fatigued and was told I could not call fatigued by our Chief Pilot and that he would mark me as unavailable and take me off the whole trip. I informed him that I didn't feel fit to start the trip but would like to pick up the remainder the next day as it came through Base. I explained that I hadn't received adequate sleep and was told that I had my 10hrs in base and basically that was sufficient and he would not treat this as a fatigued call.In my opinion this is a violation of the 'ask no question fatigue policy.' Who has the right to determine if I am fit for duty 10 hours in base or not? Can you sleep in the middle of the day at a hotel? I can't. NO ONE except for myself can determine my condition to start a duty period.First there should not be two pairings in the same day assigned to any pilot. NO ONE; including management; has the right to make the decision for a crew member who feels unfit for duty. Marking this as an 'Unavailable' is a threat or strike against me and should be removed and marked fatigued. MOVE the bad layover hotel to another location. Get rid of 7 leg days and trips with Reduced Rest built into every pairing. Everyone knows the delays that Base experiences. This only adds to the stress and workload of a 7 leg day or a reduced rest overnight. Why not have other crews take a flight if there will be a significant delay to relieve another crew?

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.