I appreciate this topic is focused on IAA attitudes, but SKY9 made a comment that it's OK to bust 900pa as it only applies on the 1st of the month. Hm?
I was always confused by this reasoning. It had always been told to me that a roster was a rolling affair. You could fly 990 hours in 365 days. Simple.
Further, I could fly 100 in 28 days. Imagine my surprise to receive a roster where on the morning of day 28 I had accumulated 95 hours and had a 10hr flight ahead of me that would land on day 28. I was assured by my rosterers that it was legal as I was below 100hrs at take off and it was a single sector. (however if I diverted en-route, I'd be stuck?) I then had a days rest down route and in a rolling 28 period was now back to 97 hrs with a 9hr flight to get back home and land with 106hrs in 28 days.
Amazingly BALPA said they had questioned this with CAA and been told it was OK. BALPA didn't agree but has not, to my knowledge, tried to oppose this abuse.
It says 900 per year and 100 per 28. That to me is simple, it needs to be. It can not be a grey area otherwise the abuses will be rife and the lawyers and insurasnce boys will have a field day after the crash.
Add to this the calculation of allowed duty when called from SBY. That is a whole other can of worms that even the crewing dept's can't work out, and that brings in the whole matter of accepting illegal duties. It's that or head master's study the next morning.
I hear stories that there are schemes where a roster week starts on Mondays. Thus the calculations pertaining to a week are no longer 7 days but Monday-Sunday. Somehow or other you are supposed to be bright eyed and bushey tailed at 0600 on a Monday ready for a fresh weeks work, having just be at it for a few days already. Can't be the idea at all, can it? or am I missing something.
Why o' why is it necessary to make an easy job difficult. Is that last drop of sweat so important to the bean counters?