Can you expand on this for me. Given that there is a max of 900hrs a year flight time - and I expect the airline to make the most of that. How much time should one expect to be 'at work' or 'on duty'?
Not talking about the airlines but about the small operator I work for. This is what I do.
Monday to Friday, I check in at 8:00 am and check out at 18:30 (when all goes well).
That's 10:30 duty. I will do that 5 times a week which brings me to the max allowable duty of 55 hours.
Then I must have a day off.
Flying wise, I do 2:30 a day so for 55 hours at the "office", I fly 12 hours (the rule we go by is 55 hours in a 7 days period/95 in a two weeks period so once in a while must have an extra day off).
No way I can reach the 900 hours limit but I am always on the Max permissible duty.
FYI, I am away from home all day long and don't return to my homebase before the evening comes.
On top of that, I will sometimes end up doing a flight during my week end/days off on short notice only. Hard to plan anything if you see where I come from.
Don't get me wrong, I have done some office work (not for long thanks god) and other ground jobs but if 900 hours doesn't seem much from an industry outisder's perspective, the job can mean a lot of time at work and being ablsolutely nackered when you get home.
This can put a lot of strains on your relationship, family and this is something hard to put a price tag on. I like many, haven't got anything like that but whether it is a good thing or not, it is you to decide for yourself, bearing in mind that the choice won't be yours anyway.
I love what I do but when you come across the fence, don't expect things to be perfect because there is a lot going on beside the fun bit we call flying.
Be also prepared to earn less and in some cases much less than the UK National average income for a fair while (£23000pa).
I'd say if all one wants is fun flying, get a well paid job and get yourself a share in a warbird or buy your own plane. Many people have done it and I have no doubt they ver little regret.
Not my choice but not a bad option at all