Pilots That Fly 50hrs or so a month?
 

I've heard some pilots working for airlines say they fly 50 - 70 hours a month, just a quick question, what do you guys do for the rest of the time? (training/in th office)?

50 - 70 hours doesn't sound like a lot, but think about the different kinds of operations. In long haul that would average 4 or 5 trips a month. In short haul you can almost multiply the hours flown by two to obtain the duty hours. Briefing, debriefing, turnarounds etc. etc. We can fly 900 hours a year max, so 70 a month is an ok average.

I have 70 flying hours rostered for July (regional / short-haul). However, duty hours for July is around 130.....which equates to about a 35 hour week.

Keeps me busy enough, my golf swing isn't improving.

At home - sit by the pool & read a good book, play with the baby, surf PPRUNE

Down route - if it's a nice town, the crew are a sociable lot and the schedule permits sufficient recovery time, then yes I do endeavour to hit the town for a few beers. Happens less than you'd think though, even with long haul.
If it's a short turn round, captain's a w***er / cabin crew antisocial, or most probably because the destination is a 3rd world sh!t hole like Dhaka or Lagos where you wouldn't go out anyway - then just kick back in the hotel room, catch up on sleep, go to hotel gym or swimming pool, eat room service nasi goreng, and play a lot of Halo on my nice new Dell XPS :)

Pprune mostly, wash the car, go to the gym - all the exciting stuff.

Hi Skeletor,

I thought by IATA regulations, airline pilots are only allowed to fly up to 100 hrs a month and 1000 hrs a year?

regards,

You are confusing block time and duty time. There is a big difference between the two.