VA rosters - how bad are they really?

[FatigueError]

Happy Easter everyone,

I'm considering putting my hand up for a return to VA and want to get an idea of what I'd be signing myself up for. If anyone can talk me through a month in the life of or send over an example roster I'd really appreciate it.

Is there a big difference between the bases? I would be hoping for Melbourne

[Duck Pilot]

Just be prepared to get flogged😀

[slice]

The most frustrating thing is that the bid system doesn't really seem to work. Even if you use the "Bid Analyser" check what you bid for against the published pairings, it seems you could get anything as some flying is apparently added by hand with no reference to bids. Expect to always fly 70+ (often 80+) hours out of Sydney / Melbourne. Not sure about ADL / PER. Composite rosters now with standby days mixed in.

[Colonel_Klink]

Rosters can be all over the shop.

6 months ago anyone bidding for day trips was getting overnights and those bidding for overnights were getting day trips. This does seem to have settled down slightly in the last couple months. You’ll still end up going away / doing day trips, but at least it’s not the compete opposite to what you bid. My personal experience only and Im sure there’s plenty that disagree with what I’ve said.

Use of the trip swap system is non existent - so people ‘self manage’ rather than trying to swap a trip.

You’ll get a couple standbys in your roster. Again - 6 months ago it was a given you’d be called out. Now it seems more and more people are going the day without being called.

Perth is doing the least amount of flying. Think mostly day trips to the mines and about 60-65 hours a roster. MEL SYD BNE all pretty busy at 75ish hours. ADL a little quieter.

When you go to work - it’s usually a busy day. 4 sectors on the east coast for day trips is not uncommon. There are easier days like going to Perth and back - but they are usually pretty popular. Domestic overnights are usually minimum rest (give or take) - and a 3/4 day trip
with early starts out of places like the Gold Coast is really tiring.

The operation was a shambles over summer. Your days would blow out and they were fatiguing. Things do seem to have calmed down (and you can tell that with reserve call outs dropping as well as work on days off drying up) with more duties finishing around the time they are supposed to.

Plus side is the number of days off you get compared to every other operator.

The OP said they were thinking about retuning to VA - not sure which part of the business you were before, but it’s definitely a harder slog now. If I was in a 9-5 job outside the industry and earning reasonable coin - I’d have serious reservations about coming back.