I once had a discussion with my CP. Firstly there was the earlies & lates issue. We'd all seen the videos about owls & larks etc. All that good stuff about not flying if over-stressed or fatigued. (plain over-tired didn't count) I suggested that to improve safety and morale why not let the larks volunteer for earlier & the owls the lates? Or anyone else who's family life suited one or the other. The answer was "there are no favours and you are all the same."
The next point was the roster. The Ops guys and other ground jobs e.g. engineers worked 12hrs on 12hrs off, 4 days on 4 days off, 2 earlies 2 lates. Why could pilots not do the same? We would achieve better sleep in the middle of changeover and still produce the hours. The answer, "you don't work shifts, and FTL's are your rules."
So my mixed bag of duties 24/7 didn't count as shifts, even though I was sleeping when I should be awake and vive versa. Hm!
So the guys on the ground, with their radios & TV's, coffee machines & canteens, plenty of mates to chat to, plenty of space to walk around and avoid broken backs, proper toilets to use; they could work 4/4. Meanwhile, we in our cramped little dehydrating box with no space to swing a cat, never mind exercise your back, and with all its other associated anti-social parameters that are well known, can work 6/2. "But safety and welfare of crews is our top priority." Never forget that. Twaddle.
Last edited by RAT 5; 16th Apr 2016 at 14:09.