Phileas,
Your ignorance displayed in your statement is dazzling.
I operated my fair share of the MAN-CPT's and you should read last years posts about this punishing duty, the lack of adequate in-flight crew rest facilities and the fear of fatigue induced 'mishaps'.
On more than one occasion while driving home post duty, I felt myself falling asleep on the M56. After consulting other crew who were equally FATIGUED on subsequent similar duties, we raised our concerns with the management who provided 'Day rooms' in hotels upon arrival at base.
But this doesn't get around the problem of rosterers and the commercial schedule planners repeatedly drawing up new schedules that take the FTL legislation as a GUIDE AND NOT ABSOLUTE LIMITS.
I have never seen so many Captains filing so many Discretion/Reduction of rest reports on almost every flight.
Your 'scenario' of 1 hour report,pre-flight 12 hour flight & 30 mins post flight FDP are fantasist at best and were proven to be unrealistic. Do you really think that things go that well? The reality was, and I hope that the powers that be have learnt lessons, something like this...
Report scheduled 1 hour pre-departure.(Crews more often actually reported at 1.5-2 hours pre-STD. Actual flight time usually 12:15-12:45.
Winter ops' at MAN so frequent 06 departures, low QNH, Anti-ice performance penalties meant some departures had to tech stop on route.
Subsequently departure delayed while op's sorted out where to tech stop, organise and plan tech stop.
Actual time of departure (with or with out slot time fracas) now at busiest time of MAN evening departure rush hour. Probably 45-90 mins late by this stage and airborne knowing that you'll probably be in discretion or definately in disc' if you're tech'ing.
Arrive (eventually) in CPT in early morning rush hour with transport taking on average 35-60 mins to reach hotel.
On average 15-17 hours minimum rest needed (otherwise next FDP needs reducing) against planned rest of your 13.5 hours means the evening rotation back to MAN is already 1.5-3.5 hours late and with any slack built into this 1 aircraft's busy plan, any tech delays accumulate subsequent delays. I think it resulted in the aircraft being almost 30 hours late at one stage. The aircraft's plan for the week was MAN-CPT-MAN-GLA-SFB-GLA-MAN-CPT-MAN-GLA-BFS-SFB-BFS-GLA-MAN. The longest period of time the aircraft had on the ground ahnywhere was CPT- 15 hours, where there are NO crews rested when the aircraft arrives heavily late to take the aircraft prep'd for the next rotation and eat into any delays.
The pressure is on the just operated crew to reduce their rest to nibble at the heavy delays.
Crew (probably reduced or insufficiently rested) board aircraft to hostile pax, for planned 12 hour (realistically 12:15-12:45) night flight back into a winter MAN morning rush hour and subsequent duties such as positioning by scheduled flight to home base (Scotland for some), post flight paperwork...transport to staff car park....drive home on busy motorways while falling asleep.....
P*** poor planning equals P*** poor performance.
Can you see our point, Phileas?