Month: April 2014
Cyprus Airways : Why so many pilots?
Cyprus Mail reader asks an interesting question:
Having just read your article on the Cyprus Airways pilots’ legal action against the board, I cannot believe their audacity.
They talk about how the board should remove excess staff. There are 71 pilots for a fleet of six aircraft. That is an amazing amount of pilots for such a small fleet. That is the equivalent of 10 crews per aircraft, when normally an airline would have four, possibly five crews per aircraft, especially with such a small route structure. Why so many pilots?
No wonder the airline cannot make a profit.
I wonder how many people actually know the following:
- how many aircraft Cyprus Airways has in its fleet?
- how many pilots are employed by the Cyprus Airways?
- how many pilots are usually in one crew?
- how many crews on average an airline has per aircraft?
- how does the number of crews per aircraft varies based on the route structure?
European Parliament votes to end roaming charges, expand consumer rights and make it easier to create better telecoms
Today the European Parliament voted to end roaming charges by Christmas 2015, as part of a wider vote in support to the Commission’s proposed regulation for a “Connected Continent” (telecoms single market)*.
What’s the best looking Linux desktop you’ve seen?
Why is software engineering exciting?
Quora runs the question. There are some really inspiring and insightful replies. Have a look. Here are some bits to get you started. Robert Love said:
Software is the most malleable of media. With just bits—which are nothing, really—a software engineer can build castles out of thin air. Entire businesses, industries even, are created with nothing physical at all. Software’s substrate is the stuff of pure thought.
Other engineering disciplines are constrained by the surly bonds of the physical world. To design a new plane, the aerospace engineer may spend years designing a model. A model! A software engineer can go from idea to reality in a day. As an intellectual pursuit, software is enormously rewarding.
Martin Sarsale:
It’s like playing with Lego but the blocks are product of your mind.
Noam Lerner:
Creation. It’s my way to express my creativity. Some people create music, movies, paintings or pottery. I create software.
Briggitte Jellinek:
It’s exaclty like magic: with my spells (that are completely incomprehensible to muggles) I can make stuff happen!
And there’s more, of course.