Long haul rosters?

[Aerofoil]

Hi all

I just wondered if someone who flies long haul can give me an idea of a typical roster for lets say a two week period? I'm basically after a rough idea of how many days are spent downroute in a trip and also how many days you then get off?

Many thanks in advance

Foil

[banana head]

The answer you seek really depends on which operator you are considering (or not).
A bidding/ preferential bidding system could offer anything over a 14 day period depending on the pilots taste, but would generally balance out to 'company average' over a 28 day (or calander month) period. (legacy US carriers/ BA etc)
An allocated roster system (possibly with preference weighting) would give a fair indication of lifestyle over a 2 week block. (Cathay Pacific, VS etc)
One thing for certain, 900hrs is generally now a target threshold rather than a maximum - even on longhaul with most operators - thus expect to be away from home anything from 8 to 14 nights a month.....

[Dan Winterland]

And also the type of flying. Is it long haul or ultra long haul? Freight or pax? I've tried most types. Assuming you are refering to CAP371 limits, here's the benefit of my experience.

My long haul rosters had me flying to the East coast of the USA 5 or 6 times a month. A five day cycle would have you away for a 3 day trip with 24 hours off at the destination and two days off in between trips. This was pretty exhausting as every 5 day cycle you would lose a complete night's sleep - usually. Five or 6 nights sleep lost a month is very debillitating.

Ultra long haul is better. Usually three or four trips a month, minimum 48 hours off at the destiantion, more than two pilots with crew rest inflight and a minimum of three nights but usually more off at home between trips.

Freight - yuk! Freight doesn't always need to keep a schedule so lots of disruption, roster changes, disturbed sleep patterns. Our limits (Hong Kong CAD371) allowed max 12 days away with 6 rest and my company aimed for this limit as a rostering guideline. We only seemed to acheive about 450 seat hours a year - but with over 300 more positioning! Six days off at a time sounds good, but you have to write off the first two as recovery took a long time. Three years of freight was enough for me - it was shortening my life.
And now I'm flying short haul and liking much more! Having said that, I've been offered another ULH job which I'm considering.

Virgin pilots are contracted for 750 hours a year BTW.

[exvicar]

You're not coming back are you Dan? Or are you looking at joing the competition? Hope all well, you doing beers next week?

Exvicar

[Dan Winterland]

Q1: No!

Q2: Might be!!

Q3: Probably!!!