If I am on duty, say driving to a station for an appointment over a meal time, I can claim on JPA for a sandwich, drink & choc bar purchased in a service station. If I am flying over a mealtime in the UK I get a butty box provided, to make sure that I keep my energy & blood sugar levels at a sufficient level so that I don't do anything stupid like crash my £65 million aeroplane. It would be nice to be able to arrange all my flights to fit between meals but that wouldn't always make for a sensible flying program.
When I'm on route & working a 16 hr duty day I get a couple of meals for the same reason, & because I can't get to the mess, & it's rather silly to suggest that I should stop at a supermarket on the way to work, even if one's open at 0400, to pick up some food. Would anyone suggest that soldiers deploying on exercise on Salisbury Plain should take a few days self purchased food with them instead of supplying them with rations?
It's not about being self important, or perks, it's just plain sense & about making sure that aircrew eat properly when operating expensive machinery, which is often full of lots of people. I know that there are plenty of stories of crews or individuals abusing the system but that does not make the idea wrong. Should 'they' do away with rations it would be remarkably stupid, petty, potentially dangerous & unlikely to save a significant amount of money.
Last edited by Ken Scott; 27th May 2007 at 21:59.
Reason: Grammar!