Commuting in this job will kill you long before retirement. However, personally I find it very beneficial, from a fatigue point of view, to be able to get a string of days off now and again rather than 2 or 3 days dotted around the roster. Gives me a chance to reset my body clock. Does anybody really think that 2 days off after a 6 day trip to AKL is enough?

Harry, fatigue does affect somatogravic illusion.

Google this: www.caa.co.za/.../Disorientation.pdf

Harry,

I'm with Geordie - those seven nights of consecutive nights sleep in same time zone (assuming you use it that way) sets me up nicely for a couple of weeks.

1-2 days of at a time, no chance at exiting the zombie zone.

the problem is to bring down the ever increasing hours to a normal level.

When I joined we were flying 50-60 hrs now 90 hrs.

If that's done, fatique will not be an issue any more.

But this reduction of hrs will only happen if they are forced from outside.

90 hrs is not in itself an issue. It is the structure of the roster that mainly determines how difficult it is to sleep.

I couldn't agree more. I could happily do 90 hrs a month of certain sectors, yet 70 hours rostered poorly leaves me knackered.

I agree to a point. I used to say that I was 'how' you did your hours that mattered, not how many hours you did...

But now I'm not so sure. 90+ hours, month in, month out leaves me buggered. It doesn't matter how I do them. So no, we need a reduction, not strings of days off. Not that the oxygen thieves in the bouncy castle give two hoots...

Harry

Re: Post#43.

I think you have accidentally fallen into the 'EK Management Mindset.'

The problem isn't 7 days off in a row and 90+hrs of flying in the remaining days.

The problem is 90+hrs of 'EK flying' each and every month.

Are guys using it to try and commute? I guess a few are. But I'll suggest most are using it to try and remove themselves from the toxic workplace that is EK and just feel normal again. But that is only going to be a short term fix. The simple fact is everybody here is tired and many are fatigued.

Until they realize that their rostering rules may be legal but are certainly not humane or sustainable for the long term nothing will change. And sadly, there is only one way that that will be driven into their conscious awareness.

Chicago Layover (EK)
 

I see the Chicago layover has finally gone to 50 hours, I wonder what finally made them see sense and change?? :D:D

Keep posting those ASR's for it, as apparently this new change isn't immediate, its 1st of June.. Muppets.

SyB :zzz::zzz:

The ORD layover is a tough one, by all means. What makes it worse is that the company rosters you for minimum rest before and after that flight.

50 hours is great, and I'm sure welcomed by most of us, but it does nothing if we are rostered for night turns to the legal minute after the trip and are worked to the bone before the trip.

But hey! Its legal Captain!


Keep the blue side up fellas

CC

Great topic and i like all the contributions here,i think there are so many factors that contributed on this life style(FATIGUE) one that i have seen my self is the state of the art computerized sys that those airlines use at the moment, the companies ask the to have the most utilized rosters for pilots so they can save money wile in the old days it was done manually.and this act cant happen if there was a union,the FTL have to change with the change of the industry itself.