On my 8/2 WK schedule I once agreed to work 11 straight weeks to accommodate some desired schedule R&R by others. I quit 3 times during that stretch but got talked out of leaving before we could get a flight scheduled. Really tough at 5 weeks when I realized I had a full rotation left to go.
I cannot comprehend how hard that must have been. When I started on the Slope in the mid-70’s most of the tradesmen (pipefitters, welders, etc.) worked 9/2. They’d leave for R&R with $80,000 in their pockets and come back two weeks later broke because they spent it all on booze and hookers. What a life!
I’ll never allow or ask a man to work more than 5 weeks out of 8 on a drilling operation. I been involved in too many incident investigations that involve the fifth week. I allowed a crew to talk me into a 35/35 rotation once since the flight time was so long. We ended it after four hitches.