Reduced layovers at V Australia
Unfortunately the V Australia crew website is not anonymous in the forums and in an environment where there is no seniority, those who question or are perceived to not be a yes sir / no sir / three bags full sir sort of employee may find themselves perpetually at the back of the upgrade list. While much is spruced about an open door policy – the door is in Brisbane and the base is in Sydney.
It makes it difficult to comment about changes such as reduced layovers. Spending more time at home is one positive thing but an increase in the number of hours (the only natural extension to truly see the benefit for the company) effectively results in a reduction in pay (per hour) and lifestyle.
I have worked in and participated in the development of FRMS with previous employers. The VAustralia system varies in a number of ways. The training I received at VAustralia was prior to operations commencing and as a result was as useful as could be expected.
It is unusual that no feedback in the form of FAID scores is provided to crew nor actively sought by way of survey. In the end the only input is via those who fill out fatigue reports. Refer to my first sentence to see the flaw.
It was disappointing to read in the minutes of the recent fatigue committee meeting that the majority of fatigue reports were dismissed as irrelevant due to the paperwork not being forwarded or as tiredness rather than fatigue. Whilst there is a distinction, it is one that belongs in academia as a microsleep and collision with a tree, car or pedestrian has the same outcome even if tiredness is the cause. I would have thought that the failure to complete reporting correctly would have been a flag that communication was lacking regarding the forms not an excuse to dismiss the validity of the reports.
It is interesting that the V Australia trial FRMS now contains a further trial of shorter layovers. WTF CASA?
It is, as many are in Australia, based upon reports by the University of South Australia Human Factors // Centre for Sleep Research. In reading the University of South Australia Human Factors // Centre for Sleep Research report on reduced layovers produced for V Australia I noticed that they used scheduled time rather than averaged arrival times in addition to ignoring the time taken to clear customs, wait for crew delayed by immigration and bus ride to the hotel. My experience to date would indicate that it is rare to arrive at the hotel prior to within +120 min of on blocks time. In addition whilst the scheduled report time is 75 min prior to departure the actual time required to check out and catch the bus is 145 min. The upshot is that approximately 4 hours of layover time is simply not available for rest even if you do arrive on time.
In the end the FRMS and the studies used to support them appear to be a joke to move responsibility for fatigue related incidents from CASA to the company to the crew – you should have told the company you were fatigued – from the company who is producing the roster with undertones of - if you can’t hack the pace we will get some one who can or you just languish at the back of the upgrade list. All with support from CASA as they have scientific proof that you weren’t fatigued because of the roster.
End of rant