Commuting distance to base - UK Airlines
 

Good afternoon guys,

Would just like to quickly ask about UK operators and their rules regarding the commuting distance to work.

I've seen in the past that a pilot must live within 45 minutes (If I remember correctly) from his home base.

Is there an issue regarding commuting time these days? For example would a 50 minute journey time send a shiver down managements spine? An ignorant assumption of mine would assume that the introduction of 'airport standbys' would remove the requirement for such regulations to be present in a FC contract these days.

CAP 371 The Avoidance of Fatigue In Aircrews

9.2 Travelling time, from home to departure aerodrome, if long distances are involved, is a factor influencing any subsequent onset of fatigue. If the journey time from home to normal departure airfield is usually in excess of 1½ hours, crew members should consider making arrangements for temporary accommodation nearer to base.

hi George

well my company requires us to get in by 2hrs from call out. they say that allows 30mins grace to get in uniform then 90mins to report for the flight.

i happen to live quite a distance from my home base and require the full amount of time to get in on time if called out for a last minute standby.

its never been an issue for me in almost 7years and i know of guys that live further than me that have never had an issue. if we were delaying flights constantly then i think some one would say something but until then it seems to work.

besides, most standby call outs are made asap so you tend to get called much earlier than the minimum 2hr before ETD, sometimes even the day before you will know. i can count on one hand how many times its been last minute and even then we're told to just do our best because it tends to be a bit of a mess at that point (10 crew all on last minute call outs coupled with tech delays leads to approx departure figures)

hope this helps but then again i work for a great company who do things in a traditional way.

cheers

If on standby we are required to be able to get to the crew room within an hour of the call. At some bases this includes clearing security to get to the crew room.

Generally we should be within an hour of our base, but some seem to get away with up to an hour and a half commute.

You've got to consider early reports, like 05:30-07:00, if you have an hour and a half commute before that you're leaving home at 4am, is it really safe for you to then work an 8 hour shift and still drive home? I certainly wouldn't want to do that every day.

I was just wondering about company policy. I wasn't ever planning to live more than 50 minutes away from an airport working either on the ground or on the FD.

Thank you for your responses.

Our company says 90 mins max and 2 hours max overall for a standby call out.

Don't try to live too far from the airport. I've done it and over a year, it almost killed me through cumulative fatigue. Try to be within 45 mins max.