I learnt at a very early stage in my career that (s)crew control rarely call with any good news. I have a few personal rules:-
- I don't work on a day off
- I don't answer my phone when I am off duty and/or not required to do so
- I don't call up (s)crew control looking for favours. If I really need a day off then I try to swap with mates or else I change my plans.
- I work my roster (its always legal and compliant with working conditions) no matter how bad it is, I don't shovel sh*te onto someone else.
- I let all calls from (s)crew control go to voice and be screened. That gives me the benefit of being in a better position to deal with them as I can catch my breath.
All of the above comes about as in my short 6 years with a national airline I only ever had 2 special days that I really needed off and no matter what I offered to do I got fobbed off with hopefully/call us closer/we will see what we can do. Needless to say I didn't get the days I needed. From that I learned that:-
- All airlines are full of "company men" who are more than happy to stitch up their own and work on days off to fulfill their own agendas.
- Most airlines refuse to carry sufficient levels of crew as there is always an abundance of people that will take a call on a day off and come in to "save the day".
On an early reserve duty my phone is always off. I set the alarm on the phone to come on a few minutes before the duty starts and when I wake I then turn on the phone. They can call me at whatever mad time in the morning they want to but all they will get is my answerphone. They generally get the idea after a while and call at the start of the duty. I then have an hour to get into the airport. It usually only takes me 30 minutes from getting the call to hitting the shower and getting into work.
My life is very simple now and funnily enough (s)crew control stopped calling me on days off about 4 years ago when I adopted the above methods of dealing with them.