Overtime, extra duties and the additional day: when the airline asks you to work a day off, what it pays, and when to say no
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#1 Luton, three years, and the additional duty request (ADTY at ours, other names elsewhere) comes to every crew member and nobody explains it before the first phone call. Here is what it is and how I decide.
What it is
A request, from crewing, to work on a rostered day off, because the base is short. Not standby. Not a roster change. A request, which you can decline. At most European carriers it is paid at a premium (a fixed amount plus the sector pay for the duty) and it counts against the duty limits like any other duty.
What it pays
At ours: a fixed additional day payment plus the normal sector pay. In a summer month with two or three of them it is a noticeable line on the payslip. It is the single easiest way to raise a low cost salary and it is why some crew never say no.
When to say no
When the day off was the second of two and the first was a recovery day. When you have a 4am the day after. When the month already has the fatigue in it. When the thing you had planned was the type two day off from the other thread. The premium is real and it is not worth the fatigue report the following week. The crew who say yes to every one are the ones who end up in the fatigue thread in August.
When to say yes
When it is a standby that was not called anyway. When the month is light. When the rent is due. When it is a one sector return and you would have been at home doing laundry. And when the base is genuinely struggling and the crew are covering for each other, which is a real reason that has nothing to do with the money.
The politics
Crewing remember who says yes, informally, and it does no harm with the roster requests later. They also remember who says yes to everything and then calls in fatigued, and that does harm. Say yes to the ones you can do well. Say no to the rest without explaining. You do not owe crewing a reason for a day off.
The honest maths
I do about one a month in summer and none in winter. It adds a real amount to the year. It has never put me in the fatigue thread. That balance is the whole trick.
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#2 Gatwick, and 'you do not owe crewing a reason for a day off' is the sentence every new joiner needs before the first call, because they all give a reason and then feel they need a better one next time. No is a complete answer.
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#3 Bergamo, and the summer at an Italian base is built on the additional day, and the number ones are asked first, and I say yes to about half. The half I decline are the ones before a 5am. Same maths as Ollie. Same conclusion.
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#4 Berlin, and the German contract pays the additional day at a rate the collective agreement sets, which is generous, and the crew who chase it in summer are the same crew who are exhausted in September. The premium is a trap for the people who cannot say no.
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#5 @tobiasber a trap for the people who cannot say no is exactly the right frame. The premium is fine. The inability to decline is the problem.
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#6 Three weeks in and I have had my first call and said yes because I did not know I could say no. It was a one sector Faro and it was fine. Next time I will decide rather than agree.
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#7 Long haul, and the long haul version is the 'can you extend your trip by a sector' call, which pays well and costs a day of body clock, and I say yes to the ones that end at home and no to the ones that end in a hotel. Same principle. Say yes to the ones you can do well.