yaletown,
We have the Carmen system for our rostering. Technically, you can bid for trips/days off etc. but in reality, it's a bit of a sore point at the moment as it's not the most reliable! Saying that, a friend of mine seems to have got his bidding spot on. Either that or he's sneaking boxes of chocolates to Carmen, and his roster is always pretty much what he wants. The same goes for salary, as it really depends on what flights you're doing. Long haul is where the money is and the potential earnings are pretty good if you get it right. Unfortunately, if you're a purser, forget it! (I'm not bitter!
)
As for commuting, a lot do especially since the introduction of single fleet. Most seem to manage quite well although, I don't think we have anyone coming form a long distance. It's mainly within Europe.
Saying all that, it's still a great base and fun to work at. There's no doubt, LHR have the better T&C's but LGW has a lot going for it too.