Originally Posted by
lederhosen
The difficulty comes when the limit of duty time seems like it is the target and getting as close to it as possible on a regular basis is a measure of crew planning effectiveness. I vividly remember an overnight to the middle east and back to Scandinavia followed by minimum rest during the day in an airport hotel and another overnight to the middle east arriving back at home base at six in the morning. I had a frustrating chat with management who just kept repeating that it was legal. A couple of months later sanity prevailed and it got changed to a 46 hour very pleasant stopover.
Yes, you are quite correct, it is commonplace to apply the letter of the law, when I was in charge of a scheduling department I would try to apply the reasoning "would I like to operate that duty pattern myself?" and if I wouldn't then I would endeavour to change it, alas the problem shaill often occur where costs may be increased and, certainly, if additional crews would need to be employed then the beancounters would argue for the cheaper, but legal, alternative.