mauiUAflyer

New one for me.

Flying home on Saturday after Thanksgiving, JAX-IAD-DEN-ABQ. Was upgraded entire route, with generous connection times between flights. Should be able to survive a very busy travel day, right?

Beautiful day in JAX. dropped off rental car. A/C (CRJ-700) arrived early the night before. At the gate. Crew arrives. All systems go?

Suddenly GA announces that the flight is canceled due to "crew fatigue". PAX are to go back to ticket counter to be re-booked. I call 1K desk, had been re-booked on JAX-IAH-ABQ. Leaving 7 hours after original flight time, but getting to ABQ 1 hour earlier (the connection in IAH was only 38 minutes, and IAH was a single-class a/c).

I went up to GA to ask for meal vouchers and new boarding passes. While he was printing them out, he relayed that one of the FAs had been attacked by bedbugs at her hotel, and didn't get sufficient rest. That was a new one!!
Sad watching my original flight depart, empty except for the crew.

Enjoyed using the voucher (and my own funds...) at the Vino Volo there in JAX. Not many other options!

TA

Really, so fatigued that he/she could not even do one leg, and declare sickness in IAH where replacement crew could have been found much easier?

dicsydel

You would prefer to fly with a captain who hasn't slept well? I'm glad that you don't know what is a sleepless night. ;-). It's not safe! When I didn't get enough sleep, I cannot even drive my bicycle.

Lawyerneering

OP says it was a FA.

QBK

I'm inclined to sympathize with the FA on this one. Their minimum rest -- as established by regulations -- seems to be pretty minimal. IIRC, their time is defined in a way that more or less requires everything to go perfectly between the arriving flight and the departing flight the next morning so that they get 8 hours of sleep. Delays, slow hotel shuttles, meals, etc... and they end up getting screwed out of a good night's sleep.

Given the minimal margin, I can see why a FA would throw the book at any violation of contract. If they give up an inch, they lose significantly. And since they don't get to pick their hotels... bedbugs is a pretty big screwup. Let it slide, and they run the risk of it becoming a precedent; their employer goes with a lower bidder for hotels, and they get bedbugs all the time.

Will Dearborn

Honestly, replacement crew availability shouldn't factor into it at all - either the crew member was ready to fly or they weren't.

morelegroom

To add a lighter note. I had a transatlantic flight where two flight attendants were injured enough to require medical attention (cart fell) Deadheading pilot volunteered to "fill in" and after a hilarious announcement from the purser that we were all to be nice to the " trainee Kid" he did very well.

Doc Savage

Since you don't notice bedbug bites till significantly after they occur, I'm more than a little skeptical.

Glad you got better flights in the end.

TA

I think that's a little too black and white to be a reasonable line to take, especially in this situation. Crew members certainly do factor in whether they have a relief person to take over, in deciding if they can push through some amount of fatigue or duty end time.

In this case, bedbugs causing some sleeplessness for an FA certainly does not rise to the level of "either ready to fly or not" that you would make a judgement call the same way as, say, a pilot with an inner ear infection. If that's the case, then every FA who's in a bad mood and sleepless due to their own personal decisions would have grounds to say "not ready to fly".

TA

I have this funny feeling that when an FA has less than a full night's good sleep because of their own choices or behavior, they choose to work through it...

mauiUAflyer

The plane (and crew) had arrived early the previous evening, about 7 PM. The flight the next day was 9:15 AM.

I know it was Thanksgiving time, but one might think the hotel could have gotten her another room, or brought in a cot with clean bedding...

emcampbe

And I have a feeling there are a lot of FAs who don't get a full night's rest through no fault of their own, and still work the next day.

Look, crew have very public facing roles and receive scrutiny that most of us would never face in our jobs. If I don't show up for work...maybe because I'm on vacation (my 'fault') or maybe because I got food poison at the restaurant I ate at the night before (most likely not my fault), life goes on. Either something doesn't get done until later, one of my colleagues fills in, etc. And barely anyone notices, except for perhaps my boss and team. Crew members get called out on stuff because its public...there are 50, 100 or however many people who have a flight delayed or canceled, and they are playing armchair quarterback and are so sure why the crew member was wrong not to show up.

Maybe they should've been there, but I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. First of all, most of these crew aren't making that much, and are making zero if they aren't working, and so want to work. Second, they are very likely not even at home. Third, in the event where a crew really isn't rested - I probably don't want them there. I realize some may say they're there to hand out snacks and drinks, but are also there for safety. And as much as I don't want to be involved in any kind of airline accident, I really don't want to be involved in one where crew are working who shouldn't be. Seriously. It's like the people who complain about the mechanical delay. Does it suck that I'm delayed? Certainly. Would I rather be on-time? Of course. Would I prefer the risk of a fire at 30000 feet, or a crash? Sorry...not me...I'll take the delay every time.

emcampbe

How do you know the crew arrived early the previous evening? I'm honestly wondering if this is your speculation or you actually know. Crew, especially on UAX carriers, sometimes travel in and out on the same aircraft. But often don't, too. So just because the aircraft came in early the night before, doesn't mean the crew did.

Don't even know how to respond to your second paragraph.

Will Dearborn

The OP referred to "sufficient rest" - I'm giving the FA the benefit of the doubt that they determined they could not safely perform their duties before removing themselves from the flight. For perspective, I dealt with similar situations almost daily when flying in the military so I can appreciate all of the factors at play (plus the additional ones encountered by a for-profit, commercial airline) but the primary consideration should always be safety.

That said, bed bugs sounds like a pretty flimsy, albeit creative, excuse.

saxman66

Crew almost never arrive on the same aircraft in which was brought in the night before. They were likely there much earlier in the day, so the fact that the aircraft arrived early the night before doesn't say much.