@ Deep and Fast
I think it would be telling if there was some statistics on sick leave and loss of medical over the past 10 years for example. To see how the change in rostering practises and secondary effects such and stress and security have affected crew.
I think you're on the right track, but unfortunately I have the impression that medical standards have been relaxed to such an extent that this won't show up in the statistics. Nowadays you have to be practically near dead in order to lose your medical.
We aren't machines and even if we were we'd still need proper maintenance.
Na! Call me a cynic, but engines (flex/fixed derated/ATM take offs) are expensive, but pilots 'pay for themselves' these days. Literally!
Even the contrary is true IMHO, as any pilot that gets sick and/or tired (literally and/or figuratively speaking) enough to leave the system will be great for the airlines because;
1) they won't show up in the loss of medical statistics, meaning the 'authorities' can keep on sleeping at the wheel and allow concentration camp Arbeit macht Frei-style FTL's, and
2) they can replace them with cheaper B-Z-scale canon fodder.
That's why nowadays most airlines don't believe in, or facilitate 'preventative maintenance' for humans, things like part time/unpaid leave schemes, ID90 tickets so you can commute and live with your loved ones, or tolerable non-fatiguing rosters, because then their worst case scenario will become reality: healthy and happy crews that will stay until retirement.
