Originally Posted by
Nurse2Pilot
As opposed to the more immediate danger of fatigued crew doing their duties? Would it not be more evidence of FR's shortcomings if captains were able to produce memos or emails of "no hotels available" and then receipts of him booking accomodations for his crew for that same night? Even if FR would eventually only reimburse 50% or even 0% of the cost, would these captains not be able to use this situation to their advantage within FR or even when applying to another airline?
That is a pertinent point.
The regulatory environment provides all the protection from an employer, even one as adversarial as O'Leary with an IR posture the envy of most airline management.
Using the regulatory protection available requires:
1. Knowledge of the regulations
2. When to apply them necessitating the PIC have cojones (non-gender specific)
In the modern day adversarial airline IR model, many pilots adhere to the company documents which whilst oftentimes incorporate the statute, gloss over things like strict liability and instead offer 'company pleasing' alternatives.
Sadly with big mortgages and little knowledge of the statutory protection, many pilots surrender point two when signing on.