Hi All
Regarding the minimum days off etc. I left the company in Feb 2005. My last few months there were rostered with few standby duties and minimum days off. I've spoken to and looked at many of my ex-colleagues rosters over the last few months and don't see them to be that much different now. Infact, they don't see things to be that much different either. I'm sure the Captains and trainers are working much harder at the moment, but from the F/Os side, they seem to be at the same work level as before I left. As I remember, the only time the F/O workload dropped off was when a new intake of crew were being line trained. Regarding disruption due to weather. Well, that's living in Scotland for you. It's never been any different.
Obviously, it's easy to comment from the outside looking in, but I remember when I was there that as the long shifts and multiple sectors rolled on, you began to develop a very jaundiced view of the environment you were in. Hoping that a standby would be a chance of catching up some rest. Being fatigued and looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. Jet recruitment seems to be that light at the moment.
On the flip side, the grass is not always greener. Flying jets on 3 earlies and then going straight into a deep night flight without days off fries the brain too. So does 6 or 7 hours from GLA to Egypt and return in the same shift. I would swap a KOI nightstop for that anyday. Days off are still spent sleeping and walking round in a daze rather than just living life. The difference is that my winter season is quiet where as Loganair's keeps rolling on at a similar pace.
The current pilots that I have spoken to at Loganair in just the last few days actually don't blame the airline for the current mass exodus. They blame it on a bouyant jet recruitment market with significant opportunities for low houred turbo-prop drivers who are taking them whilst they are on offer. A lot of them would be staying on for their commands if this wasn't the case. Not my opinion but that of guys doing the job there.
Just a shame about the TR scheme they've switched to.
ACA