Rosters-Now v's then

[Led Zep]

Don't bring too much attention to it. You'll get us all replaced by drones that much quicker.

[gordonfvckingramsay]

Nice article even if there is one common mistake within. Generally speaking, pilots are not highly paid, they are adequately paid for the responsibility they bear and especially the revenue they generate. Most of us make clear profit for our employers equal to our entire years salary every couple of weeks.

[Band a Lot]

Before the war airline travel was very expensive too much for many and mostly big business and government paid flights were the norm.

I seem to recall a F28 flght Carnarvon - Perth return in 1980's at around $800 ($1,700 in today money maybe).

Look at Darwin - Gove mainly government and big business mainly sector around $800. Take the mine out and the government wont go much, will be no flights.

Before the war rosters were good no they were great for the pilots, but several were not happy at the deal they had. Today is a result of stupidity of passed forced on the new and will take many more years to get better rosters if ever. My memory is the pilots of that era got a far bigger pay rise than they asked for in return for working more for it and they agreed - bring on the regulation rule book on duty - Oh look Redeye works well and within duty times.

[Pakehaboy]

I fly at an airline that has 15,000+ pilots,we are under FAR 117 rules,fly the narrow body but havee done wide as well.The jury is still out as to whether these new rules will work or need to be gutted,personally they need to be just that.
The fatigue/roster issue is heating up for sure,I fly 82-85 hrs per month,mostly good pairings,but several are quite fatiguing.Crew planning,scheduling don't give a rats about pairing or the rosters as long as they are legal,the company sees it the same way.

It's seems everywhere you go,this topic has no boundaries,we are all in the same boat,fatigue is a personal thing.Ive sat and listened to grievance committes trying to pay protect pilots who have called in fatigued,only to find out that they are the ones that created their mess by picking up and loading their rosters and lines to 100+hrs,and the fatigue is self induced!!,but legal under FAR 117

On checkin ,we have to acknowledge a Fit-to-fly,if yr not,you go home.Are airlines building and forcing fatiguing rosters on pilots?sure they are!,I see it every day,but as usual, until something catastrophic happens,we are just blowing wind.For the larger airlines with stronge unions,the issue is far more pressing,their ability to exert pressure on mgt,govt agencies,to stop certain practices will hopefully prevail,and that will filter down to the less powerful groups.Until then,we are at their mercy,you either fly the roster,or you don't
Either way,it's a personal choice

[framer]

I agree, it is a very personal choice.
I do think there is a global recognition amongst Airline crew that the rosters are getting tougher and long term the impact on health is severe. Short term the impact on family life is severe. The impact on safety is real.
I imagine the intent of the various flight and duty time laws was to ensure safety, they probably went a fair way to achieving that when written ( I don't really know as I wasn't flying) but now with both short flights and long flights leaving at all times of the day they do not. The rest periods do not account for the physiology of the human body and as such pilots find themselves fighting sleep hormones when signing on and trying to sleep when the body has just registered the sun coming up. Short term this can be managed but after months/ years/ decades chronic fatigue sets in and depression/ cancer/ heart disease follow. The science on this is immature but clearly points to major health issues.
If this were is openly acknowledged by ICAO and the various XAA's the only thing that will happen to the industry is that the ticket prices will stabilise a fraction instead of continuing to become cheaper each and every year ( inflation adjusted). and we will have a safer transport system.

[CurtainTwitcher]

Originally Posted by framer

If this were is openly acknowledged by ICAO and the various XAA's the only thing that will happen to the industry is that the ticket prices will stabilise a fraction instead of continuing to become cheaper each and every year ( inflation adjusted). and we will have a safer transport system

Problem is framer, there is always a manager willing to throw someone else under the bus for a buck. Unless the rules are completely harmonised internationally (never going to happen), someone will always seek to game & arbitrage the rules to shave a few cents here and there.

Even worse, new pilots to the industry think they can get ahead by assisting those same managers to get experience, so they can get the "good jobs", not realising, that they are actually cutting their own throats in the long run.

This is the "genius" of globalization - create a giant for market for, and have labour race itself to the bottom.

[Hoofharted]

The mob I fly for have no regard for rosters at all. Their entire business model is based on "under employing" and then relying on inflicting short notice (some after sign on) changes on the crew as and when required. There is no regard given for EBA, CWA or any shall we say "reasonable fairness" when it comes to stuffing the crew around on a regular basis.