Organised labour does not need to withdraw their labour (which incidentally is incredibly hard to do) what it needs to simply do is stop enabling the model to sustain itself.
- Whether it is using one's own internet to update the 'manuals', arriving early for terminal congestion (which is simply extending a TOD), using a personal cell phone to make company calls, simply stopping these things COSTS the company and suddenly becomes tangible
If 50% of an Australian or NZ Airlines pilots did nothing but turn up to work on time and then begin updating their apps, their manuals, reading their company emails etc etc the place would grind to a halt in 24 hours.
Pilots like it when things run well, and on time. They enjoy being part of a nicely functioning system, they take pride in their role within the system. Because of that, historically, there has been no problem with all the work that gets done at home in ones own time, after all, we’re well paid and respected by our company and community. What has happened is that management is now mainly accountants and lawyers and we are no longer respected and valued for the role we play by our company ( to a large degree the community as well). In some cases we are not well paid either.
So, by treating the pilot group with little respect and by demonstrating that the job is not valued in the same way it was, we now have pilots saying “ well bugger ya then, I’ll turn up on time like my cousin who works in the ice cream factory loading boxes and do the minimum I have to”.
This is a big change in the last 20 years. I used to think it would get very messy from about 2022 onwards with accident rates increasing but now, with the shortage and the Ryanair pilots driving a stake in the ground I hold some hope that the profession of ‘Pilot’ will remain a decent profession.
We’ll see.