atiuta,
I agree with some of what you say. The big difference though is that the troops that scream for basings are mainly the same nationalities. I think most of them are actually Ozzies and Kiwis, some English/European.
If you look at the Ozzies, that would mean that only a small amount of people would be able to be based home. They would do the most of the Ozzie flights, leaving the rest of us with no flights there (which might be home as well) and doing the cr@p to Japan, India, Middle East, Africa,...
Basings as you put it, would be only a good thing to a minority, giving the majority a headache and a roster which is even worse then now.
A second problem would be that of equipment change. If we look at Oz flights again. SYD is done on the A345 now, but will in the near future apparently change to the B777. In a few years, it is most probable that the A380 will go on that route. How would you accomodate for those changes on a basing system?
A commuting roster on the other hand will give everybody a fair chance to bid for destinations and it doesn't really matter on what equipment you passenger home for your 2 weeks or so off.
I think if you want to reach something (in any company), you have to come with a reasonable well thought and proof proposal which has little or no flaws. Otherwise it's too easy for the management to disregard whatever you came up with.
Personally I think basings as you put it, are a step too far from where we are now. Although I don't say that it would be impossible in the future.
But wasn't the thread about the new conditions?
I hear that colleagues are actually very pleased with the 18% payrise. Please guys, before screaming around that we have 18%, do the math. On a realistic yearly roster, you will have a payrise of around 14%, not more, probably a bit less. Whether or no you are happy with this payrise, that's completely up to you, but don't go yell around the wrong numbers. If someone could PM me some rosters of last year with their grade and seniority, I'd be happy to work out the REAL payrise.
MR8