Having just joined the fray I thought I'd offer my two-penny-worth...Having worked in Crewing and Rostering for a number of Airlines I have run across 'Aircrew Rostering Commitee's' in various guises. They do come up with some good suggestions as individuals but as soon as they get together ther cant seem to agree, because they are individuals with differing needs. When one Crew member wants patterns with loads of night stops another will chirp up that they want to be home all the time etc. Thre only answer is to set a middle road and try and please as many as much of the time as you can. We do know that aircrew are human but so are we.