Terms and EndearmentThe forum the beancounters hoped would never happen. Your news on pay, rostering, allowances, extras and negotiations where you work. Let others in the industry make educated choices on where the grass is less brown! Scheduled, charter or contract -
I had heard that this has happened in the last 3 weeks or so ? As I am unable to find any thread relating specifically to this 'old news' and in particular no mention of unpaid furloughs in VS anywhere on this forum using the search facility, perhaps you would kindly enlighten us all as to what has actually happened at VS ?
There is a private VS forum, if you can log in you will possibly find out more (I am not a VS pilot). Having said that, I find it interesting that the main posters are new to PPRuNe.
airmail, I am unsure what you are attempting to imply by your comment regarding you finding it ''interesting that the main posters are new to PPRuNe''
I have been registered for a couple of years but am a self confessed lurker. You will see that I registered in 2007 but have minimal posts.
I started the thread with an honest and concerned attempt to ascertain the numbers involved, if indeed true. There would appear to be some very heavy handed moderation of posts regarding certain topics and certain airlines on this forum and hence my reluctance to get involved.
I have noticed that there is normally little moderation when the big carriers are discussed or bashed (BA,CX, EK etc) but things can be very different when the smaller 'niche' popular arlines come in for interrogation.
I do hope that this thread is not magically deleted/moderated away, as it is important for the rest of us to ascertain the honest health of the airline industry out there.
There is nothing sinister in my starting of this post, no glee if the rumours are true, merely considerable concern about the current climate. I wish all concerned the very best.
I have aspirations to step up to the longhaul arena at some stage myself, and am merely attempting to plan ahead as best I can....
Nobby, I must admit that I didn't look at when you registered only the amount of posts you had made along with others on this thread (and considering when I first registered and the amount of posts I've made, maybe I should have a look in the mirror!!).
My point was that over the years, there has been an increase in the amount of 'one hit posters' coming onto PPRuNe and posting emotive threads (redundancies, companies closing etc). I'm sure that in the couple of years you've been around, you've seen these as well. I accept that you aren't one of them but took your post as either being one of these or from a current VS pilot trying to confirm some information - hence the reference to the private forum.
I have no idea whether they, or others, are looking to make redundancies but given the figures from BAA earlier this week about a 10% reduction in passengers in Q1 09, you have to say that airlines in general are taking a hit and I would be surprised if none of them were looking at costs in great detail.
With regards to you getting into long haul in the future, I have no answers or advice for you save to wish you luck in your aspirations
Now I recall why I was a lurker for 2 years + ...........
BetpumpS if you would kindly reread my post in reply to airmail then I have already 'showed my cards' by explaining that I have aspirations to join a LH company. If the LH players are laying people off then I would like to readjust my game plan and think very hard about the future. If I was current VS then why would I be asking this question on the open forum ???
Sincere apologies, but I am at a loss as to why a straight forward, honest question is being met with such animosity and suspicion ??
I hear (unconfirmed) 65 - unpaid leave upto two years/ part timers etc. So the number was 10% . So 650 pilots in total at Virgin shaglantic. Good luck to them all.
In the end it will be about 30. Last time they laid off there were down grades etc. and it was LIFO.
approx 50 pilots is the figure i have heard. The company are trying hard to avoid any redundancies by implementing other options which will require some flexibility on the part of the other pilots.
After Sept 11th the union ensured in my case that it was (LIFO) last In first out . Lets hope that holds true this time, and is not fleet dependant.
One option rumoured is being able to work half the contracted hours and achieve equal time off, i.e two weeks on/off for slightly less than 400 hrs per annum.
Its a good company, enjoyed my time there, and wish all VS employees the best for the future.
"After Sept 11th the union ensured that it was (LIFO) last In first out "
Oh really, I can think of a few A320 drivers with 2yrs plus in the company after 9/11 who might just take issue with you on that. The union rolled over and let them do it and only later on tried to make amends with respect to the same poor sods coming back. If they want to cut jobs by fleet they will, and there is sod all you or anyone else can or will do about it, especially since LIFO is now pretty much illegal under EU law.
Its a rotten bloody state of affairs and having been there myself I can only offer heartfelt sympathy and hope it doesn't happen again.
Were you one of the down graded guys (having been a captain or some years) because your number was higher than some new captains? I do think they could do some luck. All the best too all the line guys and girls.
especially since LIFO is now pretty much illegal under EU law.
Sorry to deviate from the main topic but, contrary to airline managers' wet-dreams, it's not unlawful. The relevant legislation in the UK is The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and if you have a cursory read of Section 32 you will see that an employer may discriminate between workers on the basis of length of service. This section has been successfully used to defend length-of-service as a means of selection for redundancy (Rolls-Royce vs Unite). That said, managers will normally always seek to minimise the cost of redundancy which might be why they seem so keen to tell all-and-sundry that LIFO can't be used anymore...
Last edited by StudentInDebt : 8th May 2009 at 01:06.
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