Blakey, I am manchester based so if i did apply for a command yes it would be UK based should the vacency exist and i think they do. Should be no delay if you want uk base for LHS, now that is it might change tomorrow!
Stbys are a sticky point at the mo, it used to just be a notification day to tell us of future roster changes and maybe to get us to our base for the next day but they seem to be changing that. They now want us within 2.15 hours of our base from the time of the phone call. Considering some guys live in france that might be difficult but we will see.
ohhhh did I laugh on your final question. No,no day off payments if you get back late which happens surprisingly regularity, but due to the age of some of the ol' girls we fly, this is not unexpected.
As i said you get access to a great company with fantastic prospects (probably only an 8 year wait for a biggy type command due to future expansion with the accomapanied biggy salary) but you need a sense of humour and loadsa energy to get thro' the freighter bit!!
JJB