No pilot shortage if management actions are anything to go by
I’ve been watching with extreme interest, if somewhat distantly, the evolution of certain agreement between the pilots and a contractor to our favourite whipping boy airline and based on what I hear I can only conclude that there is absolutely no pilot shortage! Hoorah!!
Most noteworthy during these negotiations is the appalling lack of integrity from, not only the company, but one of the bargaining bodies too; everyone has a price don’t they!
In a time when a severe exodus in underway and morale is hazardously low, all that is being offered is the same old “we can’t afford to pay you what you’re worth” garbage. The management know that all they have to do is hide behind the Maginot line until the pilots become sick of the uncertainty and fold; A war of attrition of the highest order helped along by a body hell bent on self advancement and unhindered by those who stand by and let the persecution play out. What is most disappointing is that the true role of negotiator has fallen to a small group of individuals who have stood up to represent those pilots who distrust and despise corporate unionism. The ones I speak of know who they are but more importantly, so does ever single pilot. Strength, integrity and the ability to see BS for BS come without a fee, not a single cent! It is a sense of right and wrong that drives these people, not some out of sessions deal.
This agreement is one of many currently undergoing renewal and they are all following the same draconian path. My observations have lead me to surmise that there are a couple of options open to us in Australia at present regarding the pilot shortage. (A) Either there is simply no pilot shortage, or (B)employers of pilots and/or their behemoth benefactors are simply willing to expose the travelling public to the perfect storm of exhausted, demoralized, stressed, distracted, overworked pilots to the ever increasing possibility of adevastating accident. Yes I take it personally because these bastards sit in their boardrooms earning their exorbitant salaries fully aware of the pressure they create by denying decent pay and conditions. They deny the organics of economics, safe in the knowledge that if one of my colleagues has a bad day, the money is already in the bank.
The discontent and feeling of worthlessness is sinking in very fast now and the airlines have very limited time to reverse those sentiments. They should be coming with their best deal today, not something they think will creep over the line, because by year send it could be too late.
Fly safe and learn to say “NO”!