Crew and people

Who you need

• Pilots, captains and first officers, rated on the aircraft family they fly.
• Cabin crew: at least one per 50 seats, a purser leading.
• Mechanics, ground agents and department heads.

A rule of thumb: four crew sets per aircraft cover rest and days off. The Staff page hires them; a Crew Planning Manager hires for your timetable every day if you have one.

Rosters and rest

The engine rosters crew to flights three days ahead, within duty limits: a 13–17 hour duty day, 12 hours' rest at base (10 away), five duties in seven days and 100 block hours in 28 days (less if a union agreement says so). When crew run short it calls in reserves, rested staff on a day off, crew positioned from elsewhere, or agency crew at a premium. When nothing works, the flight is cancelled.

Pay and morale

Morale moves with pay against the market rate, workload and the airline's reputation. Below 35, people start to resign. Cabin crew skill and morale set each flight's service; pilot skill shortens delays. Pilots are scarce when airlines grow fast: market pay can rise sharply.

Training

A pilot can be retrained on another family (a type rating takes about a month). The cadet academy trains new pilots from scratch for the long term. See Training.

Unions

Pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground staff each have a union and an agreement with an end date. Talks open 90 days before it ends: the union asks for a rise (more when morale is low or you are making good money) and sometimes a stricter rest rule. Settle above what they would accept and they sign; let it lapse and they may vote for action. A Head of People settles talks if you leave it to them. See Unions.

The head office

Every airline rents desks in its home city: two for the core team and one per 30 seats in the fleet. Too few and staff work from serviced offices at twice the rent; a Head of Facilities runs it. See Head office.