Pilot Fatigue Behind Closed Doors

During my 30 1/2 years as a pilot with a major airline, pilot fatigue in the cockpit was an on-going problem. This consisted in many ways, one was flying the back side of the clock or jet lag. Other factors were on duty time, flight time and the other was commuting to work. Pilot's are required to fly out of a chosen domicile, which is assigned according to seniority. During my 30 1/2 years flying, I flew out of many different domiciles, which included New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston. In order to maintain an orderly Married and home life, I would commute to my domicile. from New York. I even flew my own airplane from New York to Boston. originally, we were not granted the use of the cockpit jump seat, due to the fact that company management attempted to discourage commutation. In today's Airline World, I would say that during a career, 65% of flight personnel commute, at one time or another during a 30 year career, which includes Pilots and Flight Attendants. I flew with a Male Flight Attendant who commuted from Rome to New York and bid Rome overnights. His Car in Rome had New York Plates on it.. Commuting puts an enormous amount of stress and strain n one's self, as evidenced in the National Transportation Safety Board's Investigation into the crash in Buffalo. It seems that the First Officer commuted from the West Coast and was quite fatigued, which dulls the senses. At one point in time while flying International out of NY, the airline rigged up a make-shift "Rest Seat" in the Cockpit, not suitable. In my Autobiography entitled "A Pilot's Memoirs-From The Ground Up" I go into these problems in detail and the effect that it has on the person the Marriage and the Family. I commuted for 23 years out of 30 1/2 years and would take a cat nap in a reclining chair in the Crew Lounge or Terminal, which is no way to run an Airline. If you would like a specific question answered, contact me at ngjd@bellsouth.net.



Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time.



Captain Nicholas Gravino Jr

Delta Air Lines, ret.