Whoop, whoop, warning, warning, heads-up, heads-up, press alert, press alert......
Right now I'm as knackered as the next guy, i.e. a planned annual rostering requirement of between 850 and 900 flying hours (spread across about 500 sectors), but as this is governed by CAP371 it's all entirely legal, ain't it ?!
Nb. The following was recently posted in our company forum - I'm sure (hope) that the contributor won't mind me reproducing their tome in this thread.........
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Way back in June of 1994 the CAA issued a 'Notice to AOC Holders' with the intent of clarifying some points of interest w.r.t. Flight/Duty-Time Limitations's, eg (and somewhat paraphrased) :
Section 3.2 Rostering (CAP 371 Section A Paragraph 2 and Section C Annex E)
The Authority is concerned that some operators are working some crews close to the limits of their approved FTL scheme, and at the same time not following good rostering practices. It is emphasised that such rostering, despite being within the legal limitations, can produce fatigue well before the limits in CAP 371 are reached.
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Whilst I'm sure that fatigue affects many aircrew, to a greater or lesser extent much dependant upon the nature of their flying, my experience is from a 'low cost', 'shorthaul', 'scheduled service', carrier with very tight (i.e. typically less than 30 minute) turn arounds - and a roster pattern that tends to be either early's or late's.
So when you ask why the ticket cost is low, it might be fair to suggest that, in-part, the price of your ticket is a reflection of just how much 'value-for-money' is extracted from the employees.
Ps. I'd better keep this short and sweet as I've got to leave the house in 6 hours (yes, really ! ) for an early report. Nb. Last week I did just under forty hours of flying and 18 sectors, and I don't even bother to track my duty hours any more - i.e. too bloody tired to bother. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz