From WK--
The issue I submit to you ATC Watcher is not having the time to recharge the batteries between trips... ULR over the pole to LAX one day and a few days later doing a DXB/BKK/SYD trip for example!
Here's a chap who manages to sort the wheat from the chaff in PP discourses these days . Metric/feet conversions , while an inconvenience, should never be an issue for a competent (i.e well disciplined , well trained crew ) and I am sure this is the case with pretty well all major operators these days, including those supposedly in "The Third World".
However, the point about time zone change and subsequent effects is the one that strikes me . I have always wondered why it was not possible for a roster to avoid this mix of Far West , followed by Far East . I always felt it should be a case of one or the other, with a North/South rotation filling in the rest of the month , (although in this case a Moscow trip would be following that philosophy ) . But then, bidding software perhaps makes that wish "mission impossible" . I don't know , but I do have a lot of sympathy for the rostering departments ; an unenviable job , as you could never satisfy everybody. , especially with the top floor guys coming in at short notice to make their own requests for favorite destinations ( usually combined with favorite seasonal weather---westbound in summer, eastbound in winter,---" no typhoons approaching; no Cat 3 approaches, please...).
In a previous gentlemanly life, (744 cargo) , we had a great route structure; set off eastbound and arrived back at base 2 weeks later, having traveled round the world in one direction (with multi day layovers), followed by a week off to "recover". 60 hours a month, if you were lucky.
Sadly, it seems those days are long gone.....