As an ex-RAF truckie and now an airline wallah, I am aware that the crew duty time limitations are broadly similar in both cases. Such further restrictions as exist within the airline scenario reflect the fact that almost all airliners have just 2 crew. As an example, my (peacetime) limit, starting at a fairly normal time of day on a 2-man crew, is 13:15 hours (2 sector day). A Herc K, VC10 or TriStar crew would be restricted to 16, if I remember correctly. All these have 3 or more flightdeck crew. Both Mil and Civ have the option to extend by up to 3 hours, under normal circumstances, though the civilian's discretion is entirely the captain's whereas the mil captain's discretion was only the first hour WIWOH; any extension beyond that had to be auth'd by Ascot Ops.
The issue really is whether the airlines are planning to fly whatever trips required by the military with less crew than they would be required to normally. I doubt that the Defence Staff give a damn whether the chartered 757 or whatever has 2 or 3 crew, as long as the job gets done. I assume that the contract will require, say, a number of daily rotations through various Gulf airfields returning either to UK, or flagging Cyprus for urgent cases. These trips can be planned in advance, and crewed appropriately. If unplanned events occur while on a given trip, requiring a CDT extension into, or even beyond, discretion, so be it; it's not a problem - as explained above by Capt Homesick. If an extra trip is required at short notice, again, no problem - you fly till the job's done. But to plan, weeks in advance, to fly up to 19 hours with 2 crew is daft and unnecessary, and it should be within the chartered airline's power to avoid that with sensible planning.
I don't think there's any chance of a crew turning up on the day and refusing to fly; this is purely a planning issue. The same kinds of fatigue-related discussions will be going on in every single branch of all services and their support organisations. How hard do you plan to work your folks, and how much leeway does that leave you to cope with the unexpected? This isn't BALPA vs 'our boys'!
Last edited by scroggs; 16th Mar 2003 at 00:20.