Actually I don't think Obies full of it. The times of 6 day slips that we find only now on extended lay overs, if your on long haul, on the right fleet and have enough seniority are gone, im sure it would've helped with fatigue, and Obie would have been around then and I don't hold it against him, they were great times.
Today the fatigue and pressure from the upper echelons wear you down, part of the job, but I don't think it's being looked into enough by most airlines and aviation administrations. My airline did sleep testing on the crew a few years ago where we recorded our sleep with PDA's provided by the airline, but this is all I've heard of. Im not sure if it's rest hours being to short or the ways in which the rosters are constructed but the airlines need to start getting smarter about this one way or another.