This is what you asked for?
I just want to know how early (in time) before flying, you turn up to carry out flight planning and walk round checks. I was then trying to establish whether this would vary each day you fly (by being different each day) or whether there would be a pattern to calculations etc. I appreciate that passengers, baggage, fuel etc will change calculations. But if the route plane etc was the same it would get easier with time.
And then I wondered on returning home and parking, how long before you leave work and travel home.
Is the following anything remotely resembling what you are looking for?
Flying for regional UK based turbo prop operator on national and some international routes.
Leave home, butler shuts front door. Usually self drive to airport.
Thirty minutes later enter crew room, chief hostess opens that door.
Arrival at crew room timed .45 minutes minimum before scheduled departure, as per company ops.
This is usually completely unrealistic, especially in winter.
Reality dictates enter crew room before flight crew, open door myself, 1.00hrs to 1.15 hrs before scheduled departure time.
The amount of work to be done in this period never really reduces with time and familiarity.
Carry out flight, series of flights, experience delays, beat the clock.
On chocks at home base.
Usually thirty minutes, normal company ops duty allowance, suffices to deal with putting the aircraft to bed or handing over to next crew.
If night stopping the process usually takes longer before one enters hotel room. Sometimes the arrival at night stop hotel room may not be until 1.30 after chock time.
If at home base, collect car or be collected, drive or conveyed home. Usual arrival at home 1.00hrs after on chocks.
If you take a short haul regional operator such as above, it is probably true to say that for every hour flight time you put in you'll do almost another hour on the ground, one way or the other, turnarounds and so on. So your 900hrs will become something like 1800hrs. So, if you have two days off a week and thirty day's leave a year, you'll work 231 days a year? If so, then you are averaging out at around 8 hours a day. Of course, it doesn't remotely work like that. A few standby days and you'll be at work for more hours on the days you report that the 8 previously mentioned, if you're clocking in the 900 hours per moving year average.
Actally, it can be quite hard going sometimes.
Now the long haul jet chaps do far less work of course because their 900 hours entails far less on the ground time. They have a very easy life of it indeed. Besides which, generally speaking, their operations take care of such mundane matters as load sheets and general paperwork. In addition to this of course; they are paid far more on a rolling hour average and thus, since they achieve far fewer take offs and landings than the short haul pilot, earn a far better proportionate rate of danger money.
Do hope that this helps a little bit, old bean!
