Split Duty

So Tonight I'm off to Zurich for something known as a 'split duty'.

Effectively this means I stay up very late and have to get up very early - Flight Time Limitations (FTL) regulation only allows me to be 'on duty' for a certain time, but the company can extend this time by a few hours if I get a 4-hour or greater break in the middle of my duty. They use this to have a crew operate the last flight out to a destination, overnight and fly the first flight back the next day. So tonight, I operate the Zurich flight at 18:35 (London time) from City this evening, then I have the grand total of about 8 hours in a hotel before I'm up and doing to fly the 07:30 (Europe-time) back into City.

This has benefits and disadvantages to it - firstly I'm going to be shattered tomorrow. Left to my own devices I tend to drift Nocturnal and hence shifting from normal Mike-patterns to an early morning is never pleasant. However, it does mean that when I get to City at 08:10 (London time), I then have the rest of the day to myself. So, if I can keep the levels of caffeine up I've got a day off effectively. This is actually full of win.

I'm still in two minds as to how much I enjoy the Split duty. I'm a fan of getting some time at our destinations to maybe take a walk or hire a bike and generally get out to see the Cities we are lucky enough to fly into daily (yes, even Glasgow, stop looking at me like that). Split duties don't give one a chance to go and see a place - even if they do give one basically a whole day to chill out and get stuff done.