Originally Posted by
ZebraFlyer
Correct me if I’m wrong, but as it stands in both the regulations and the QF LH EBA they are unable to roster duties as long as they want for Project Sunrise or whatever it’ll be called.
Why would AIPA and/or the pilot body accept a longer maximum tour of duty allowable? Aside from compensation commensurate with the insane duty time, who would want to go to work for 22+ hours + transport from home/to a hotel with the presumed drastic time zone changes to boot.. seems like hell on earth!
In the FWC (Fair Work Commission) allegedly Qantas Captain Duggan and Qantas Captain Woods advised the commission that under the NABS (North American Bidding System) 65 to 70 % of Pilots had a lifestyle choice (comparative to seniority) and 30 to 35% did not (Blank Line holders). As the Pilots on the B-787 are finding, Qantas scheduling's unique equation of mixing Blank Lines into PSN (Squirrel Cage) is not having good results in lifestyle and time at home.
So, it’s not about the flight time on ULHO (Ultra Long-Haul Operations) and it is all about your time-off at home in between such flights and the ability to have some discretion over what flights one does and when one does them.
So Yes, you are correct. I suspect that few Pilots really want to conduct such punishing duties (
Hell on Earth ...Maybe?) however the facts are that Qantas wants to operate ULHO and someone must crew those flights. So, if Pilots accept that is the outcome then what they need to write is the equation of how this work is achieved.
That is the challenge for the Pilots and the various representative Pilot organisations, AIPA, AFAP and QPA in regards to the fundamental type and mix of Scheduling, Remuneration and Time-Off.
Challenging to say the least!