working over the limit would infringe applicable laws. this has other ramifications - it might also invalidate insurance policies (in general and if anything happens during that flight), affect any loans they have with banks (there is always a clause which would make all loans immediately repayable if CX does anything illegal), and may also affect other contracts CX may have.

i don't think the crew like it either - they might have other things planned upon arrival (like getting some decent sleep, or taking care of their kids and being with their family) - but i don't think they have a say on this.

i've had lots of arguments with my medical friends over this - when you have surgeons doing 100+ hours per week (in public hospitals in HK), often working 36 hour shifts with no sleep .... why do pilots and flight attendants have such long breaks between longhaul flights and why is there a strict limit on the number of hours they work? the only thing i can say is that you can always find other doctors to help out (in a hospital setting), whereas there's nobody to call upon when you're up in the air ...

as (frequent) travellers we just have to bear with these things. i sympathize with the OP but we just have to accept that we can't control these things (and neither can the FAs or the captain in most cases - or perhaps he can fly the plane faster?)