A&C
I'm sure the aircraft could be flown more hours by the simple expediency of more crews .... but would it achieve anything ?? Other ticking a few boxes for those that think they know better ??
An aircraft is tasked to fly to deliver its cargo .. be it walking, wheeled or flat packed ... when the recipient is in a position to recieve that load, physically and safely. I see no value in the C130's flying holding patterns just to improve utilisation time. It is some while now since I was last in the area .. but when I was I always seemed to eat breakfast just before going to bed, and dinner when I got up to go flying ... now ... if memory serves me .. this was not out of choice .. but due to decisions by those on higher pay scales than mine. I have no idea if those decisions are still the same.. and this is not the forum to discuss them ... but I came to sympathise with the life style of bats...
You talk about aircraft "downtime" as a negative .. try thinking aircraft "tasking" as a positive ??