Originally Posted by
Cautious Optimist
Question; they say w-patterns are more expensive than routes originating from a base, but I don't see it, perhaps someone can explain where the extra expense comes from?
Although small fry in the grand scheme of things, the cost of getting crew to and from the other base is an expense. If this aircraft is originating in Newcastle, it’ll probably be fairly cheap as it could all be done without the use of hotels, however on longer W-sectors that require one or both crews to be in a hotel before or after, that’s up to 12 hotel rooms as well as the transportation expenses. That’s knocking on the door of £2000 per operation.
A lack of local engineering support and crew standby cover can make it expensive if things go wrong.