vb girl, wirgin blue & et al;
thanks for the responses and PM's appreciated the prompt info and it encouraged a very despondent crew - as you may have worked out I'm up in the front end for another airline but a very good friend is
VB CC and what they were pushed to do with this pattern was indeed a black mark on the airline. (The pattern I queried in the forum for her came as a result of a 'rebuilt trip' following the adverse Wx in SYD.)
VB after being pushed by the union and the operating crew, finally gave in and provided them taxi vouchers but essentially the issue still remains that on a multi day pattern away from home you can be directed to have reduced min rest and then operate BOC across the timezones.
It is not ideal and f'instance just would not be tolerated by the QF crews that I work with, but unfortunately the
VB EBA (like all other EBA's, inc the QF) is less than acceptable under these kind of operating conditions.
Your query about responsibility "if something was to happen" is covered off under the indemnity provisions however if it was to be a REALLY bad day in the blue sky office I would imagine the coroner would go to guns quickly when looking at what the crew was pushed to do.
We all essentially suffer the same issue that a 12 hr min rest (or in
VB case 10 hr) is eroded by late tpt pick ups, traffic to the hotel and early pick ups prior to sign on (notwithstanding noisy hotels, rooms near lifts, pi*ssed noisy bogans in hotel corridors, half a mile walk to get healthy food and a 20 minute queue to check out before pick up and of course no isolated crew rest facilities onboard etc.,)
Our airline employers (
VB, QF, J* etc all have some great platitudes about fatigue ( I love the
VB book on this .....it is such a corporate wank) and while some CC are stupid enough to p*ss up & party on till the wee hours before sign on, the reality is that the productivity of saving a few hours on a 3 or 4 trip by screwing the crew just isn't worth the risk of an accident. Like the wombat crew that party all night in slip ports - sadly it'll take a serious accident before reality bites and a more sensible remedy is adopted.
In the meantime suggest you all start emailing the FAAA and start building a business case for a rethink on the min rest and the related provisions - that includes encouraging the party wombats to wake up to themselves(Aircrew RBT/drug testing is now a reality) after all it's of little use batting for better rest if a stupid few compromise the argument.
To the very brain dead VB DM from BNE that sent me the 'other' PMsg ..... pls spare me/us the company lines of "being a 'specialist' (?)LCC and the need to cut conditions to maximise returns while still providing a unique positive customer experience" - I suggest you see how far that kind of Branson B.S gets you when there is a accident - or if you are really serious, then publicly stick your head up now and give better support to your hardworking crews. Maybe you should roster yourself on the same pattern as a famil as a first step.