they are worth more,individually, than LHR cabin crew put together
Thanks Middy - you have managed to insult the entire cabin crew population at LHR in just a few words and, I suspect, you don't even know me!
Litebulbs - to answer your question. This 18 hours debate that is getting so het up is actually a bit of a smokescreen. A standard rostered cabin crew duty of up to 11 hours triggers a
12 hour 30 rest period. If the planned duty is up to 12 hours 30 minutes planned then it comes with 15 hours rest afterwards. It is only if a planned rostered duty is delayed so long that the duty period is over 12 hour 30 minutes then the cabin crew can ask for 18 hours off. As a Eurofleet CSD I have only had to use this twice in the last 3 years so it is hardly a common occurence but I accept it can happen at the most inconvenient time.
The LCA flight is historically planned with a night sector which restricts the hours further which is why it is a nightstop. It would be so close to the legal limits that BA has opted for the nightstopping of the crew. This does give shorter days but they are balanced against a DME etc to avoid the crew running out of weekly hours too quickly. To get the maximum efficiency from a CC roster it is ideal to have some short days and some long ones and aim to have the hours as close to the limit as possible. (Mixed flying actually reduces the maximum duty day as crew are not always acclimatised and also maximum monthly hours.)The difference is that Flight crew tend to try and achieve their hours as quickly as possible to have more days at home which seems to suit them but to be fair, their work is less physical. I bet my feet hurt more than theirs after a 12 hour day!
