Every time the subject of excessive hours is raised one group of people jumps to defend the practice.
The engineers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Many people see this as the only way they can achieve a decent salary i.e overtime.
One company I worked for suggested that engineers should be rostered the same as the pilots. We said this was a great idea and as licensed engineers we looked forward to being paid the same as an aircraft captain!!!!! That was the last we heard of that one.
The working hours issue is a conspiracy of silence between the engineers and operators.
It suits both groups!!!!!!!!!!!!