FC5400 - Duty times not amended to collect new company devices
Initial Report
My airline is currently issuing replacement iPads (and new company phones) to all pilots. As part of the rollout, we are all required to book an appointment, which should last no longer than 15 minutes, to collect our new devices. Inevitably, this appointment will have to be immediately before or after a Flight Duty Period for almost all of us. However, [Airline] are refusing to amend on-duty times for anyone reporting early to collect their devices. They have amended a small number of off-duty times (which makes no practical difference to them), but the Director of Flight Ops has told me in an e-mail that this [should not have happened]. [Airline] do not consider this time as duty and claim that the CAA agrees with them. I arranged an appointment 15 mins before a non-limiting duty (the FDP had 2 hours in hand). But, in the event of a delay, I would have been at work for 15 minutes extra, purely on mandated company business. Common sense would dictate that this has to be accounted for in the time we can physically work – and I believe that the definition of duty would also require this. Ultimately, if an incident occurs at the end of a limiting FDP, after we have actually come in early to collect a company device, where do we (the licence holders) and the company stand? This is now the 4th such rollout, and [Airline] has consistently refused to acknowledge these appointments as duty. I am extremely uneasy about the concept of having to come in early on company business yet then pretend that my day is starting at the normal time. It was only 15 minutes for me; with limited numbers of appointments, it will have been 30 minutes or more for others. We as pilots have a duty to manage our own FTLs, and to arrange such appointments so as to minimise any risk of subsequent disruption. But surely [Airline] is also obliged to accept that, if they require us to extend our day at either end, this must be accounted for?
comments
CAA Comment
If the ground duty was assigned at a specific time, or if it must be carried out adjacent to a Flight Duty Period (FDP), then it should be detailed as part of the duty for that day. If the time to carry out the task is at the discretion of the individual, then the duty time should be recorded at some point during the period allowed for completion.
CHIRP Comment
CHIRP has seen similar reports from pilots at this airline which is consistent with increased use of company provided personal devices that need regular updating with the latest security capabilities which can involve collection of new hardware versions. CHIRP believes that the crux of the issue seems to be that FDPs are now invariably longer and more fatiguing than in the past and as a result crews are less willing to be flexible and use their own time for such tasks, even if, as in this case, the time taken was not longer than 15 minutes. The report is a symptom of a greater problem, where crews are reluctant to sacrifice rest periods and time available before start of duty to fulfil administration tasks for the benefit, as the reporters see it, of the airline.