Sealear,
You are correct, although Qantas focused the reality is that this is economy wide. Any skill set that has along lead time and cost is something that has a problem. The demographic trend is something that will overwhelm everything including our social security system.
As I said if the companies get around the living in Australia bit with realistic rostering and remuneration, any chummy emails from the same Flight Operations management that locked out Qantas pilots fall on even deafer (sorry pun intended!) ears.
QuarterInchSocket
You are not cynical, the play in this country has to using nominal small pay rises to undermine the real wage. Doing so would improve competitiveness. It started with Hawke and Keating during the accord years. Real wages in Australia are not growing much and have been stagnant for many years. 457 visas are the tool of choice to keep downwards pressure on wages.
Aviation it is a global market, and pilots are not averse to movement. Although a 457 ploy may help short term, ultimately it induces a shortage somewhere else. The market in action. Supply will meet demand when the price is met.
As Roj alluded to, the IR strategy is to intimidate and scare. Then open the MOU to JQ and see who the takers are. The classic greenfield operation, but from the inside! The short haul EA will likely be opened on a market downturn, with the A320 neo introduction, and the standard threat of it will be crewed by Network, Qantas link, Jetconnect (are we missing one?) It is a shame the myopic union management didn't see the potential to reduce supply using a contracting company. The AMA control supply very well.
Ironically they (management) do not see it coming, Australia retires a substantial component of the workforce in the next decade. Why do you think the pension age keeps increasing?; not enough taxpayers!
Qantas management
chose to be adversarial, grounding an airline, belittling staff, destroying brand value and pursuing pointless JQ wet dreams in Asia.With the same management in place, is it any wonder pilots will test waters, not the greenfield JQ but other carriers....There is
no trust no matter what the skewed data of company structured surveys say!
I am certainly not excusing VA, they all read from the same script to a more or less degree. Even wonder what CEO's discuss at IATA?
Having said that, it isn't an IR problem per se, VAH has problems of a financial nature, but the impact is still the same.
Good real commuting contracts poaching pilots (otherwise known as strategic assets) is the Achilles heel of Australian airlines...
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