Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the situation. I am defending the poor ops staff who have flights to crew and no crew to do it with. They have to make do with what you have. Believe me, I know what a waste of money it is.
If it was the other way around, LGW wouldn't get hotac that's for sure. We never did. Occaisionally we would get some LHR crew down to operate MCO on the old two-class. They would get a hotel before and after and all the allowances that go with it.