Just a little caution with regard to hours comparisons advised I think. If you think that the fewer hours flown by RAF crews would therefore mean either more home time or perhaps the possibility of another low-hours job on another airline, you must not forget that those 300-400 years come with additional 'free' umpteen hours on q at Brize or Falklands, another something-teen weeks away each year on det, typically 3-4 weeks at a time for circa 20-30 hours flying...(Let's not include the Ellamy surge). So to summarise, the leisurely appearance of 3-400 hrs/year is more like the work hours of 900 a year once you factor in the legendary Ascot efficiency. Oh, and those who have left, forgotten and considering returning, don't forget that your schedule/roster will change 3-4times per day and if you're not in the vicinity of the desk 24hours a day then you life will be f@c£Ed about from pillar to post and you won't even know what you're doing next week reliably never mind in x-months time for your daughters/fathers/sisters christening/birthday/wedding etc...
The trouble is that if this is an AOC operation (which to a certain extent it will have to be if the pilots are operating with civvy licences), all of the above counts as duty time one way or another. The current limits are 2000 hours
duty time in twelve months and 900
flying hours. Either is restricting so "Q" will probably end up in flight time terms as "airport standby".
