Interesting, HR people definately said that sby was 1.5hrs from base, but they also said that getting to base was considered to be on the Bus which takes you in from the carpark. Thanks for the AV comments, I should have read your ops gen closer for that answer. The block sby sounds like a good idea, so long as you still got your min days off as well, otherwise its a month away from home. Just out of interest, it was also mentioned that 8 day trips may be starting soon , any ideas what thats about, I thought that it mignt be the legendary tieup to Australia. Also, is there any advantage/disadvantage to a LHR or LGW base. I realise that you are all considered London based, but apparently we are able to select if we want our cars parked in LHR or LGW. Another query is about the request system, if say, you've got an important weekend coming up which you don't want to use a block of leave for (min 5 days from Ops Gen) are you able to request that weekend off and presumable your trips around it? If so, and assuming you are on the line which gets 1st choice that month, what do you find are the chances of the request being granted. If you guys are getting bored with all these questions, I quite understand, but I bet a lot of other people out there are interested in the answers you're giving.
ps gonadz, I specifically asked about the effects on work patterns that the adoption of JAA sub part Q by the UK would make on VS. I was told that it was not likly to as you have BALPA negoitated FTL scheme on top of the company interpretation of the rules. I cannot see any of you guys voting to change the existing scheme if it would detract from your lifestyle. I suspect that any imposition of the rules at any company in the UK may just be the the final straw which would unify the UK pilot population to strike action.