00Seven,
Warning - thread creep!
The thing is, the first thing you LH pilots dicsuss at the briefing table is who gets the bunk first isn't it?
How many sectors do you fly a month? 5, 6, 10....God forbid, 15?!
We in the SH business, fly 50-60 sectors/month which means we do a LOT more decision making than you guys....
It starts at the aforementioned briefing table.
We make a bunch more fuel decisions than you, we start a bunch more engines than you, we taxi around crowded ramps a bunch more than you, we receive and digest a bunch more clearances than you, we are likely to experience the potential for a lot more runway incursions than you, we operate our engines close to their EGT limits a lot more than you, we are exposed to the potential of an RTO a lot more than you, we fly more SID's/STAR's than you, we are exposed to more potential CFIT than you, more non-precision approaches, we carry more people/day than you....etc etc Need I go on?
You get the idea?
Arguably then, we've got a lot more to manage then, and alot more justification as a result for the use of the AFDS.
Personally I like it that way. I can't think of anything I'd like to do less than sit in an aluminium tube for 10, 15 or 18+ hours at a time. I've done enough of that kind of thing, although of course even in SH, we're in the FD for 10+ hours at a time.
What I find funny is that LH pilots are often reluctant to admit they got into LH flying because it affords them (or perhaps the perception of?) a
better life....
I mean, if it didn't, why else would you do it?
Ah, I see....better when at home, but harder at work is it?
Enjoy.
Right, enough willy waving and back to the subject at hand....
Cognizant of the fact that every Ryanair aircraft I hear going by me seems to have an expatriate at the radio, if you take them out of the equation, I don't see much evidence of a shortage here in the UK....
In fact, in Terms and Endearment, they're talking about redundancies on the basis of consolidation in the industry.
