Hey, sign it to your room, Crew down has ALWAYS been a problem but it has become worse in the last 4 years or so since the company started filling our rosters with 5 flights most months.
Years ago we would do 3 or 4 a month and very occasionally 5 but that was quite unusual. Now we get 5 most months and sometimes even 6!
5 night stops in a month is a killer and crew go sick because they really need some time off to get back onto a regular time zone for a few days and have a proper rest.
The company has expanded SO dramatically over the last few years, new routes, additional services on existing ones that they just can't get enough crew to cover all the flights. The turnover is very high due to the huge work load and minimal salary so people want to do the job but after a few months, find that they just can't live on the salary so leave.
I know i've mentioned it b4, but remember, we do plenty of flights where we don't even get a rest during the flight, so try doing that on 4 out of 5 flights for a few months!!
Many people including RB are saying we shouldn't compare ourselves to BA, on the subject of money that is, but why on earth should they have guaranteed rest on every single flight that they do and yet we can sometimes only manage an hour on a 10 hour flight to LA!! And still people on here keep complimenting VS crew on their wonderuful service in the cabin!!!