Careful about tweaking the tails of those other 'safety critical' workers AB.
There is a far greater likelihood that you will be killed by a tired shop worker falling asleep behind the wheel of their car after a 90hr week, than by a tired, well-trained pilot working in a multi-crew environment crashing his a/c. What's worse, is that the shopworker's death in service benefit wouldn't even come close to the average pilot's basic salary.
Can't say I've ever regretted leaving one for the other, but the general bellyaching is actually more galling than before. Guess it just depends what you're used to.
The working time directive is generally a good thing, and despite the fears that 'management' (I was one and we're not all evil - well not all the time) will persecute those who opt out of the voluntary extensions are largely unfounded. It was exactly the same in retail when the legislation first came into effect, but even the most unpleasant senior managers bowed to the inevitable and accepted the new rules of the game.