I just could not resist exposing some ignorance (denial) of pilot productivity to the bright light of a Tennessee (US) day. I'm sure BA flies some short legs as we do, and many flights must be in very busy airspace, not to mention accents to deal with. As for the handy phrase ('sound byte') "systems monitors"-very superficial, and as for long haul vs short haul-anyone who has flown the short legs in the older two-pilot planes, especially in a B-737, DC-9 or F-100 (just like in the smaller regional aircraft) etc understands which pilots are the most productive. In terms of how many legs are flown (yep, I know, pushing 250-400 seats thru bumpy skies is also quite productive), the workload is larger as aircraft size/leg-length decreases. This is often not well-known to those who work outside a two-person cockpit (or flew mostly as part of a three-person crew).
We who do this often sweaty job flying the short legs with no rest periods truly understand who the busiest pilots are, when multiple checklists, airspeed, altitude and heading vectors... must be complied with, catching blocked/cut-out radio calls with new clearances and guesses (yes) as to how adequate the arrival fuel will be while often worsening weather are all intermixed in a rushed operation. Sometimes five or six of these short legs are equal to less than eight total block hours of flying-but result in a very long day. Many times more fatiguing than a typical daytime long-haul flight.
Even long-haul flying in itself is known to be fatiguing, not including circadian body clock problems...
Some ignorance of these topics among laymen is normal, but such implied ignorance from a former DC-8 (or other such long-haul aircraft) pilot etc. can only consist of denial in order to attempt to support an arguement which rests on the flimsiest foundation. The pilots who fly the line DO the job with their hands and can't be swayed by such 'Kuhscheisse'. Use it as fertilizer on your flowers.
Good luck BA pilots. To Lufthansa's Vereinigung Cockpit, sehr gut gemacht... weiter so!
[ 16 July 2001: Message edited by: Ignition Override ]
[ 16 July 2001: Message edited by: Ignition Override ]