Thank you Tonto for that. You've summed it up nicely for me and it looks like most agree.
I may just be playing devil's advocate but more staff being hired probably equals less overtime to the the rest = a good thing.
I might have missed it earlier in the thread but surely amount of hours worked is governed firstly by a Labour Relations Act and secondly by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority which is equal to or better than the prescribed hours? Only with special permission from the Commissioner are we allowed to work more than 20 out of 28 days. For those arrhythimically challenged it works out to two days a week off.
Oh and seriously, having to pay for one's own beverages is not a good enough reason not to come although that does suck.