I was on a RYR contract almost 7 years ago, we were on a 6 on 6 off schedule. 6 lates not a problem, but 6 earlies were pretty bad. And that was back when the earliest reports were 0530, many were later. Apparantly the IAA took issue and next year it had become 5 on 5 off (talking about contract pilots here, not permanent RYR pilots).
In the US, the FAA really need to wake up! If you are working for a major, flying longhaul, Part 121 works fine. It means you are always (well, mostly) 3 crew across the Atlantic at a time when most JAA operators are down to 2 pilots. I know the charters are particularly bad, CPH-CUN non stop, 2 crew anyone?
The worst of the lot is the supplemental carrier rules. I have worked for one of those as well. 0100L report, fly empty to St. Kitts, pick up pax, fly to Pittsburg, then fly empty back to base. On chocks at 1530L, a 14:30 duty day, 2 crew since the last sector was an empty positioning flight (and flown in accordance with Part 91). Under CAP371 (UK FTL rules) the max duty possible for that report would be 10:15, meaning we would have had to be finished by 11:15L. Who in the FAA thinks that a crater in the ground is smaller just because there are no passengers aboard?
I read an article a while back from some Fed-Ex pilots where they were trying to pursuade the FAA they needed to adopt UK/HKG rules for FTL (in other words your days duty is based on what time you report, if you are acclimatised etc). Did anything come of that?