In regards to the JNB-LGW diversion, here's a few pointers. Aircraft landed, everyone off the aircraft. Crew troop up to LGW ops, demanding 2 local nights in hotel. Ops look into it, and still have a couple of hours to play with before the crew go out of hours. They were adamant that this crew would not get hotac (it's only a few miles away from base by the way...). Lots of phone calls to various departments, and finally, a fleet of cars turned up to take the crew to LHR. No hotac, no "extras", it was just a matter of go home and see you on your next duty. This is actually what happened.
In regards to contracts, I'm glad other people have picked up on the wording of the law. I did try to explain it as best I could, but I obviously couldn't do so quite as eloquently as others. I thank those who've tried to input their interpretation of things.
Gg
Oh, and A Lurker, my question 3 as mentioned several times by me asked you what your suggestions were toward cost savings, ie what you personally think would be acceptable. You claim to have answered this already, but I can't see it. You said initially that you didn't have time to answer it due to Christmas shopping, but I haven't seen any sort of reply since then. I'd be ever so grateful if you could reply to this question, thanks.