LMDFlyer, AEROPLANO:
So what do you suggest? We keep shtum, never complain, bend over and have penny pinching faceless corporate boxticking beancounters who know jack sh1t about flying give us a right royal reaming?
Or perhaps we should form a union, kick and fight against this and perhaps do something to preserve our terms and conditions - oh, I'm sorry we did that already.
Perhaps you think big houses are the preserve of professional footballers, rock stars and cabinet ministers? Sorry, but does a pilot having a bigger house offend your socialist sensibilities?
And there's another thing. The UK charter industry spent millions over decades getting away from the 3rd. rate bucket shop image. Unfortunately there's a new generation of "financials tracking" managers who don't remember this, but alot of pilots do. So go ahead, reduce costs to the bone. Get rid of all your expensive long serving pilots and replace them with chinese or eastern bloc pilots on a pittance of a wage. Get them flying a load of old rustbuckets. And watch your customers bitch and moan, and probably die as a result of your narrow-mindedness, complacency and desire to make a quick buck. It's a case of been there done that, and I wouldn't for one want to go back to it.
You might gripe about pilots costing 10-15% of the industry's cost burden, but believe me that's much, much cheaper than a hull-loss fatal accident and all the liability that ensues. Besides, 10-15% is a small amount to spend on a vital component of the business.
And if ever people like you get to run this industry then I won't be part of it.