Rest Defined

The word "rest" is very misleading. It's thrown around a lot by the FAA, airlines, flight crews themselves as well as the media. Trouble is, the way flight crews interpret the word (i.e. how the FAA defines it) doesn't really line up with how the rest of the world defines it.

Consider a crew that shows up for your flight first thing in the morning and they look beat. They might say "We only had 9 hours rest..." Most people around the gate area are thinking, "Crap, I didn't sleep that much last night!!! These guys are pussies!" 99.9% of people define "rest" just as the dictionary does.

Rest:(noun)
1. Cessation of work, exertion, or activity.
2. Peace, ease, or refreshment resulting from sleep or the cessation of an activity.
3. Sleep or quiet relaxation.
4. Relief or freedom from disquiet or disturbance.
6. Mental or emotional tranquillity.
7. Termination or absence of motion.

Now, consider this fact. This crew, which had 9 hours rest last night, actually got about 6 hours of sleep at best. How can that be? The answer lies in the distinct differences between how the FAA defines this word and how the dictionary defines it.

Congratulations! You've just been made an honorary regional airline flight crew member! (for the purposes of this blog, anyways) Now, lets go back in time and join this crew when they are finishing the last flight of the previous day. When we taxi into the gate and set the parking brake, we have "clocked out" for that last leg and hence, the day. The engines are still running, the passengers are still aboard, but we are no longer in our "block time." 15 minutes after this moment, we are "off duty." This 15 minutes is there for the crew to be on-duty as the passengers get off the plane and the crew packs up and leaves the aircraft. However, it usually takes longer than 15 minutes to get the jet bridge pulled into place, all the people to get off the plane, the crew to walk around the aircraft, finish any paperwork, shut down the plane and gather our stuff together. However, lets say they were good tonight. We parked at the gate at 8:45pm. The passengers all hurry up and get all off the plane 15 minutes after the parking brake was set. Now, you're off duty at 9pm. Lets say it's a 10 minute walk through the airport to the hotel shuttle pick up area. You wait 10 minutes for the shuttle. Then, it's a 10 minute ride to the hotel. Let's give 5 minutes to get checked in and walk up to your room. What time is it now? 9:35pm. I hope you can undress, shower, get a snack and wind down fast. If you're good, you should be able to actually be asleep by 10:30pm. OK, G'night! Zzzzzzz...

RING!!!! RING!!! That's your wake up call. Ugh... What the hell time is it??? 4:30am. What?!? Are you kidding me!? What happened to getting 9 hours of rest!? Get moving, kiddo! You need get up, shower if you didn't the night before, shave, take a dump, get dressed, grab some coffee and get on the shuttle by 5:30am. Most hotel shuttles run every 30 minutes. So, if the ride to the airport is 10 minutes, and you have a 6:30am departure, we need to be at the gate by 6am. This means a 5:30am shuttle, which means, at least for me, a 4:30am wake up call.

Since we must be back at the departure gate at least 30 minutes prior to the departure time of the morning flight, that's when we are considered back "on duty." Our rest, per the FAA, does not end until that 6am mark. 9pm to 6am. That's 9 hours. All the time between is considered part of our rest. Doesn't seem right, does it? Per the FAA, "rest" and "sleep" are not the same. Not even close.

Also, keep in mind, the above scenario you joined us on, was by most accounts, a best case scenario for a 9 hour overnight. When foul ups do occur, such as waiting 45 minutes for a shuttle or waiting at the aircraft for 30 minutes past your arrival time waiting on a wheelchair to show up for a disabled passenger, all that extra time makes no difference whatsoever to the company. You went off duty 15 minutes after the parking brake was set, so you are on rest even if you can't leave the plane. Also keep in mind this example was for 9 hours rest and that under certain conditions, it is perfectly legal for a crew to be reduced to 8 hours.

With any luck, perhaps this rest issue will be addressed along with some other long overdue regulatory changes which seem to be coming. At the very least, I believe the FAA and airlines themselves should not be allowed to use the word "rest" in this capacity. This is extremely misleading and it's likely one of the reasons they've been able to get away with treating crews this way so long without the general flying public being alarmed at how little sleep their crews actually get sometimes. "But it's the flight crew's responsibility to show up rested for work!" As the Colgan CEOs have been telling congress. Funny how that works.