Another critical element to pressing the go button is achieving a deal with the carrier’s pilots. At present, cockpit crew cannot be on duty for longer than 20 hours, which is less than the 23 hours, including time before and after the flight, required for Sydney-London flights.
Regulators will need to be convinced crewing rosters will not lead to pilot fatigue and therefore be a threat to safety. “We are saying the current arrangement [with pilots] does not work so we need an efficiency change,” Joyce said.
“These aircraft will create a huge amount of promotions. A first officer typically is paid 55% of a captain’s salary and the biggest thing a pilot can want is growth of an airline.
“Sunrise means massive growth for us and it would create a very fast promotional opportunity for a lot of pilots. They have to look at how they will miss that opportunity if they don’t give the productivity needed on the aircraft.
“The best thing we can all do for the success of Qantas long term is to have a pilot agreement, the manufacturers to give the right price and do to this.
http://www.orientaviation.com/articles/4492/flying-into-the-sun