Xmas and New year
 

well…aren't these Xmas and New year rosters exciting?!! Last year and the year before was ORD and the 23 to 27 Muslim conference at the Westin..3 days off and a split TPE over NY…not content with that crap..its even worse this year..no respite from today through to the 3rd…no moralistic rostering..compressed 104 hour monthlies and nothing appearing seniority based…happy Xmas team...

There is always a way to 'amend' any offensive roster....

I suggest heavy amendment over these holidays. Take time with your family and friends. CX needs a good spanking and the inefficient holiday rostering offer the perfect opportunity. Don't worry about the colleagues having to cover for you. If they aren't taking the time off, they should be. Too bad for them. No mercy. This is CX we work for, not some 1980s flying club handing pilots envelopes stuffed with cash for their Christmas bonuses. That was then, this is now. CX only hires low time pilots onto barely survivable contracts and despise the experienced types for being grossly overpaid. To the pilot managers and trainers making this crime a reality... Shame on you!!!

At what point does a"manual"arrangement of the roster impact on ones consideration to those who have to step in?..each to his own I guess but ruining another guys Xmas dinner doesn't lie well with me at the mo..that said..I feel a spot of very genuine flu settling in....

Discrimination
 

It just seems very discriminatory that there is a request embargo during the Christmas and western New Year, when Chinese New Year, Ramadan and every other religious festival, or significant celebration is not affected.

Curtain..very true..pretty sad though that until a few years ago, a cold or the start of some flu almost ensured the guys would go the extra mile and take that "extra" element of sickness..rightly or wrongly, onto the flight deck, in order not to screw the O, A or reserve guys around..hear what you say and so..we enter another era of judgement calling...

Embargo Period
 

Sucks even more tit if your birthday falls in that embargo period...can't even do the honourable thing and request it off...still, no honour among thieves i.e. those bonus thieving managers. And as many have suggested - there is a way to fix that issue.

Bunch of whiny girly-men talking about working on the holidays, that's what we signed up for when we became pilots!
Do you see police officers, doctors, nurses etc whining like you?
And don't pass it down to the next guy on reserve. It's an unwritten code you don't do that, unless you are really really sick.

No!!! Oasis.
A mini "sick out" will force our gallant Leaders to give up their holidays and fill the seats.
Their train set - their idea to put so many people offside - perfect opportunity to shove it back.
Of course Anna can't help in this respect so she'll have to delegate.
What have we become because not too long ago I would've written exactly what you wrote Oasis?
Not now.

I haven't done a reserve block without being called out on the first day once this year . Why does anyone think that the Christmas period will be any different . If you were unlucky enough to draw the reserve short straw this year expect to work. But I would love to see the managers called out to cover crew shortages during the holiday period

I wanted Maidyarem Gahanbar off. But alas, I was working.

You got the others!
 

Yes but Dan you forget to mention that you got the other five off!

Haven't! Won't mention where I'm spending Xmas - but I'm sure you will wish you weren't there.

If your on reserve over the holiday period, enjoy a PRA. You are not screwing anyone and then one of those managers will find out what it is like spending the holiday on the other of the world from their family. You nuts if you sit by your phone over the period hoping not to be called.

Actually, maybe Oasis has a point. Unless one is really..really sick, you harden the F up and fly.Maybe thats the true meaning of Christmas, where our responsibility to flying colleagues in times of key dates, albeit with more commercial meaning than religious, overcomes our need to go sick at the drop of the first signs of flu.
On a mid year standard 100hr roster, I would have no hesitation in signing off sick but this time of the year, as cliched as it is, the image of some poor sod in DB with a family of 5 missing out on a pre ordained lunch and dinner, a valued Christmas event, means I shall take my sniffling virus into dispatch, take the hits and allow others to enjoy their festivities…and just maybe..maybe, assuming I am still part of this wretched circus, have someone do the same for me.
merry Christmas!!

Sorry Puka Despite your valiant efforts to not go sick at this time, any number of flights are not fully crewed and will have to be operated by reserve call outs .
It's a manifestation of insufficient crewing levels , piss poor rostering , and total apathy at all levels . Unfortunately this is what this airline has been reduced to

Some people never get Christmas off !!
 

:ok::ok::ok:

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d9&oe=570B964B

@ "OASIS" - Hell Yes, and to everyone disagreeing, you're entitled to your opinion but don't confuse welching on being the pilot, man, colleague you should be with CC - not the same.

If you don't ever want to fly over Christmas then get out of aviation! Amending your schedule just to get Christmas off is the most selfish self-centered thing someone could do to a co-worker. That said, when the holidays are over it back on.

Blah blah blah blah blah
Yawn

Methinks many would benefit by investing in a mirror.

Who is responsible for your safety ? Your health ? Your well being ? Who cares about these things ?

Pull out the mirror.

Who are you screwing if you work when you don't want to or shouldn't ? Pull out the mirror.

If you wanna work or think you should work over xmas / New Years or whenever work. If not figure a way not to. Why is anyone worried about the mission at this point ? How valuable--really--are all those gold stars in the grand scheme of life. You're not screwing others and they can buy a mirror too. Why would you solve scheduling problems for others when they've demonstrated this is not a two way street ? Things are NOT going to change in the near future. There might be an epithany at some time, but that some time lies down the road and won't happen until management figures this stuff out for itself. Sometimes, despite your input and warning, you have to let the kid put his hand on the stove to figure out its hot and it hurts.

IF you put this job ahead of your family, health, self, or friends I'd submit you are making a serious error you will probably regret in your later years. IF you really enjoy what you're doing and where you're going by all means have at it. But look at the big picture of things. At this point, who cares more about you and your well being--your family or the folks running the place ?

And look in the mirror. Because the person staring back at you is the only one who is gonna fix things for you.

Life's about the journey. Not the toys or money you wind up having when they close the lid.

I'm surprised Shep. Its not about continuing manning the pumps for the Lords and Masters - absolutely not. Its more about not wishing to by screwing my who also have

Friends can manage their rosters too. Some of them might not mind working; some might. Those that might I'm sure can find a way to get their priorities straight as well. Benefit to all.

The key here is not feel compelled to get r done at the expense of loved ones. As professionals we sometimes have problems doing this--it's kind of ingrained in us--by scheduling family time around work instead of vice verse. How many put off getting teeth or long term medical conditions fixed to minimize impact on work ? How much leave is going unallocated ? How many extra days are commuters spending on the road needlessly with the deletion of a workable A day system. ? Morally, it is probably ones duty to try to fix this and change the paradigm. The situation is not of our making and one need never feel guilty about time well spent with family--especially those whose usable lifespan might not be all that much longer. Making time to spend with loved ones is always time well spent.

One would THINK that someone who manages would understand this. Why would you withhold leave and not have stable planned rosters (where you KNOW what is going to happen--even if you don't particularly like it--such that you can deal with it) vice have a wholly unpredictable loss of assets caused by not doing same which you effectively have zero control over. And at the last minute to boot.

But apparently not.

In fact, someone who had decided to stay home probably would have benefited me (and some other co-workers) who sat doing nothing and had our significant holiday dates at other times. So this is NOT a 'team' effort in any way--at least from the standpoint that your staying home is going to adversely affect one of your breathetn (which might have been the thought in days of yore). The schedule is so incoherent one doesn't know what impact one has down the road. So I'd humbly suggest folks do what they need to do to keep their lives on track.

Shep is right. Gallantry in this regard is misplaced. It only serves the Company. CX builds holiday rosters with even more slop than normal. There is plenty of manning to cover the task, and those working might just get out of the hotels and find some EFP come their way of enough pilots book off.

Not sure if the heroes among you have noticed, but we do NOT have an agreed rostering agreement. Seniority is not honored. Fairness is not to be assumed. Transparency is most assuredly lacking. CX does what it wants, how it wants, and when it wants. For those without previous airline experience, this is not the way it is supposed to work. This type of rostering has no place in the 21st century. We often fly right to FTL maximums with minimum legal rest. While this may be safe and ok on occasion, it is not supposed to be like this month in and month out.

We get very little of our leave entitlements when we choose. We instead get a week here and there imposed with work stacking front and back. Often, a week's leave is little more than what would have been achieved via table X. Roster instability is constant, holidays or not. There is very little planning rest because a split duty may turn into an ULRO or vice versa. In short, the system is beyond broken. The AOA has been telling the Company this for years, but it falls on deaf ears. Instead, we get working groups to give the appearance of collaboration. Rest assured, there is NONE. The rosters will not be fixed with the new computerized system. The A350 will not fix Airbus rosters, and the freighter is permanently stuffed. The 777 will see more and more three man.

And some of you guys want to avoid roster adjustments over the holidays... Why? You are not helping anyone, yourself included.

Pucka,

You have got to be joking ???

Go to work sick, I'm sorry, your a goose ! I'm pretty sure I don't have to elaborate on that.

It doesn't change
 

I worked there many moons ago (decided it was a @#it sandwich) but I digress.

I still remember standing around one New Years Eve kicking rocks sans drink. Asking around, it was amazing how many other guys were on standby until 2359. CX will never change, they will make noises, show shiny baubles, promise the moon. But in the end the accountants win, and the boys at the coalface get shafted. CX 101, divide and conquer.