How about rest in the UK, Europe, Pac Rim and other areas where Pprune members fly?
Do your regulations allow a TOTAL of only eight (8) consecutive hours between engine shutdown and pushback the next morning? This allows, at least in the US (unless two extra hours are added by a typical union contract), for time to walk fast to the airport curbside, ride to the hotel, sleep, shower and return for a busy preflight. Never mind searching for food except for a Hershey's chocalate bar. Some freight, and many passenger airlines have used this minimum rest period, because it is legal.
How about for standby/reserve flightcrews over there? For example, during five solid days on duty, we only have a pre-designated consecutive 8-hours rest period (not just at night...)for each consecutive 24 hours, because of the MD-82 accident in Little Rock, where some passengers and the Captain died.
Our "friends" at the FAA never would have found motivation for changing the absurd regulations, had the accident aircraft been a freighter. Packages of car parts never make newspaper headlines, unless they fall on lots of people at a high rate of speed.
As for contract rest periods, our managements constantly deny "pattern bargaining", but on the contrary-that is exactly how they compare and compute their goal of operating costs. Monkey see, monkey do. They only fool the flying public, most of whom are total fools anyway, regarding airline Public Relations departments and media sensationalism. For the most part, the ticket price is the only altar where they "worship".
