Archos,
6/6 is an improvement. A ten percent pay rise is an improvement.
I once asked a Regional Flying Superintendent who was a gentleman, when Bristow would go to 6/6 rosters as Schreiners had been doing forever.....his response was "When we can no longer man the operation on the 8/4 roster."
Explain to me why I said anything "bad" about Bristow in general? I made an analysis of the 8/4 pay scheme and pointed out what I saw as being wrong about it.
The comment about the 7/5 roster and the Mental Gymastics required to think that is a "good" roster from a management view needs explaining as well.
The down side of manning a roster on a 7/5 roster hits both the company and the crews. How does one arrange accomodation....you like hot bedding and not knowing which room you will get when you show up? Does the company have spare accomodation to facilitate each person having a private room that sets idle during you time out of country....if so that is an extra expense. A 7/5 must be nearly impossible to coordinate as compared to a 6/6or 8/4. The 6/6 requires two pilots per roster line, the 8/4 requires three pilots for each two roster lines. The 7/5 roster requires, errrr...ahhh....uhhhh...gee higher math but it is some fraction of between two and three people. Last time I checked humans do not come in halves.
The major reason given for the 8/4 roster used to be the Brits did not wish to go on holiday out of the country in order to meet the Inland Revenue requirement to stay out of the country to avoid tax. The 7/5 was a compromise and stop gap when they were having manning problems a while back.
There will be some more whinging by the Brits I bet if the roster changes to 6/6 if the tax issues remain the same.
Me personally...If I had to spend a month in Spain each year to avoid the tax and work 6/6 I would consider it a bonus and not a hardship. I would consider spending a part of my tax savings on a Sunshine Holiday to be well worth the cost.
Part of the problem helicopter companies have is understanding the "human" side of issues. Sometimes doing something nice and good for the staff pays off far more than it costs and thus is a bargain.
Last thing Archos, don't shoot the messenger....take issue with the statement and prove the error. Few have provided any counter argument about the things I suggest need improving but some have definitely felt offended and suggested I was off base without challenging the facts presented.
Do you care to challenge my analysis of the 8/4 roster and pay as I set forth?
Last edited by SASless; 5th Jul 2006 at 21:20.