ALT BUST.

Narrative

FLT; FOURTH LEG OF THE DAY. DUTY START AM00 LCL. DEPARTED SBP WITH IFR PLAN TO SFO WITH INITIAL CLB TO 9000 FT. IN CONTACT WITH ZLA; INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO FLY HDG 320 DEGS AND MAINTAIN 6000 FT. AIRPLANE WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH ALT ALERTER. AIRPLANE ALSO HAD COCKPIT FLOW DEFERRED. IN THE CLB; BOTH ME AND COPLT WERE LOOKING OUT FOR THE TERRAIN AND TFC IN THE AREA. I WAS FLYING AND OUT OF 5000 FT; FO FAILED TO CALL 1000 FT TO GO (TIRED; DISTRACTED?) AT ABOUT 5500 FT; I REALLY STARTED GETTING UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE COCKPIT TEMP TOO HOT. WE HAD BEEN UNABLE TO COOL IT DUE TO DEFERRED FLOW AND I ASKED FO IF HE THOUGHT THAT; BY OPENING COCKPIT DOOR; WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. THEN I SCANNED OUTSIDE AND BACK TO ALTIMETER WHEN I NOTED 6400 FT AND CLBING. AT THAT SAME TIME; CTR CALLED US ASKING TO STATE ALT. I EASED BACK ON PWR AND SLOWLY PITCHED DOWN. CTR CALLED AGAIN ASKING FOR ALT AND ALSO SAYING TO NOW CLB TO 16000 FT. FO ANSWERED BACK WITH ALT LEAVING AND CLBING TO. FACTORS: POOR CREW COORD; OUTSIDE DISTR; FATIGUE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 273597: A DEFERRED AIR FLOW SYS (1 OF ONLY 2) LED TO STUFFY COCKPIT; WHICH I WAS ATTEMPTING TO REGULARLY ADJUST IN FLT. IN MY JUDGEMENT; CERTAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS WERE THE VERY FACTORS WHICH LED TO MY FAILURE TO BACK UP THE FLYING PLT PROPERLY. FATIGUE SEEMED; IN RETROSPECT; TO BE MORE ACUTE. I AM ALSO NO CONVINCED THAT THIS LEVEL OF FATIGUE WAS A DIRECT RESULT TO THE UNUSUALLY BAD EPISODE OF LABOR RELATIONS MY COMPANY ELECTED TO GET INTO WHEN IT HAD ANNOUNCED THAT IT WAS SIMPLY NO LONGER GOING TO FILL CERTAIN NEW POTENTIAL CAPT VACANCIES WITH THE SENIORITY SYS WITH WHICH IT AGREED TO IN A LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT WITH THE PLT GROUP. THE RESULT HAS BEEN THAT MANY OF US HAVE SUFFERED LOWER QUALITY SLEEP; LOWER MORALE; INCREASED FAMILY TENSION; ETC; ETC.; WHICH SHOWS UP ON THE FLT LINE DESPITE OUR ATTEMPTS TO HOLD IT AT BAY. I REGULARLY WORK 190 HRS PER MONTH AS A FULLY QUALIFIED AIRLINE PLT; BASED AND LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. AFTER 5 YRS OF FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT WITH MY AIRLINE; MY GROSS ANNUAL INCOME IS 'UP TO' 20000 DOLLARS PER YR.