Wader, thank you for your opinion of my understanding.
You have taken it too literally - I genuinely don't believe it is too difficult to permit the majority of staff to take an hour off several occasions during the week if it is coordinated and managed properly (that does not have to be all at the same time...). All it takes is some willingness to do so.
If not 0800, then finish flying an hour earlier, then your engineers, opsies and ATC types can escape to the gym (Most of the rest of the Unit work fixed shift patterns and can manage accordingly - HR Flts regularly close for afternoons with little impact to the Unit).
This does require an acknowledgement that there will be an impact on what can be achieved in a shorter timescale, and that is the leadership element.