Leave at EK , fatigue and flight safety.
Ok , so now leave is not guaranteed. In fact you can do up to 22 months without leave . I know of a quite a large number affected by this. Let me explain. A leave cycle is 12 months ( not a year). So if you were unfortunate enough to have had leave at the beginning of the last leave cycle ( say in the first month) , and they only give you leave again at the end of the next leave cycle ,it is conceivable that you can go 22 months without leave !!!!!!!!!! EK seem to think this is ok. Well add 900 hours a year as Captain ( F/o's are doing less) and you are going to experience fatigue on a whole new level ! For me this is the final straw. This airline does not take safety seriously. Your health and family life are not considered ( nor is your contract). Ask yourself is this is sustainable. Forget about having any control whatsoever over your life. Leave for family events, holidays requiring specific dates , ( or any holiday for that matter).More importantly your health and we have to ask, what next ?
management will be forced to allocate leave as you time out ( 75 hours a month is 900 hours a year) So if they sustain the 90 hours plus every month they will be forced to give you two months off anyway. But remember the time in the bunk on the ULR flights does not count towards your 900 hours a year, so you can and will go over 900 hours.
How is this a level playing field to the competition ? How can unioinised and really safety concious airlines really compete ? How can the worlds aviation regulators allow for this type of thing to take place ? When human beings are pushed this hard , they will God forbid make a terrible mistake that is going to cost lives.