Weekend travel vs Annual Leave

[aesop081]

When I was at 405 in Greenwood, the aircrew would get days off prior to and after a mission to rest. 

That strictly depends on the time of the mission and duration of the flight.

The number of hours a crew can be at work (crew day) is limited so if a flight breifs at 3pm (for a long flight), the crew will not be in at the hangar until then. Depending on the duration of the flight ( i.e. very long), crew rest is mandated after the flight ( like a 12 hour flight landing at 3am). Crews dont just simply get the day off before and after. I routinely do 10+ hour flights without a day off before or after. It sure would be a good deal to get 2 days off for a 3 hour pilot trainer in the circuit. You are correct in that none of those days count against annual leave , nor should they. Same with days where i am on Ready 2...i spend the entire period at home waiting to go if needed. Cant go anywhere, cant do anything and i am very much "working" so i dont need to take leave even though i am not at work.

For the original question......

What we do at my unit is simple. You have 2 travel days. Regardless of any leave you decide to tack on to your TD, you still have 2 travel days. No need to suddenly count them as annual.

 

[Pusser]

Another way to look at this is to realize that round trip air tickets that leave on a Monday and return on the Friday are often more expensive (sometimes significantly) than taking the same trip and staying over a weekend.  If this is the case, you can often demonstrate to your RC (budget) Manager/Administrator that it is actually cheaper to travel on the weekends (ie. leave on the Saturday and return on Sunday of the next week), even if it means paying for more hotel nights and meal allowance. This is the first avenue I would try in this case.  If you're successful, you would get your leave and the additional travel expenses covered.

For those of you that are now shaking your heads and saying no this can't be, I can tell you that this can and does happen.  If everything comes together the way I've described, the regulations allow it, it's ethical and it saves money.  The added bonus in this case is that it also doesn't involve any additional time away from work.

On a final note, as a supervisor, I would not ding anyone for annual leave in this case.

 

[RubberTree]

Its interesting that when I first came across this situation the comments in the office were all blaming the OR for not playing the game. It seems however that the OR is doing their job and the supervisor may need to step up the game a bit. We are often so quick to judge without seeing all the facts...
If I reach the position of supervisor I'll know better.

 

[CountDC]

The OR refuses leave passes that state CTO...apparently if it doesn't appear in the drop down box on the pdf it doesn't exist.

my mistake - should have said either short or weekend.  CTO is just my old age coming out.

 

[CountDC]

Common  to blame the OR for everything.  Sometimes it is an OR problem but most times they are just the messanger.  Do wonder though why they didn't offer any solution to the problem in this case.

 

[aesop081]

apparently if it doesn't appear in the drop down box on the pdf it doesn't exist.

I have 3 different pdf. version of the leave pass, all with different drop box lists. I'm a shift worker and the type of leave i often use is not in the drop down menus either but we still manage to get our passes processed.

 

[dapaterson]

Another way to look at this is to realize that round trip air tickets that leave on a Monday and return on the Friday are often more expensive (sometimes significantly) than taking the same trip and staying over a weekend.  If this is the case, you can often demonstrate to your RC (budget) Manager/Administrator that it is actually cheaper to travel on the weekends (ie. leave on the Saturday and return on Sunday of the next week), even if it means paying for more hotel nights and meal allowance. This is the first avenue I would try in this case.  If you're successful, you would get your leave and the additional travel expenses covered.

For those of you that are now shaking your heads and saying no this can't be, I can tell you that this can and does happen.  If everything comes together the way I've described, the regulations allow it, it's ethical and it saves money.  The added bonus in this case is that it also doesn't involve any additional time away from work.

On a final note, as a supervisor, I would not ding anyone for annual leave in this case.

I recall one friend (a public servant) being tasked to go to a conference, with much grumbling, until they discovered it was in Anaheim in February.  Then the boss discovered that the arifare would be $1000 less if they left the preceding Friday; my friend was requested to leave early and spend the weekend in Anaheim with R&Q paid... and it still came out cheaper for the crown.