“Over in the engine room” and “propping up the whole outfit” and here in lies a big part of the problem.
Yes, there have been dumb ideas, plenty in fact, mostly generated by a dapper man of Southern European extraction and his bunch of mates who would refuse to actually tell him anything of value, particularly if it disagreed with his world view, and I for one am very happy that he gone, the quicker they dismantle the Macquarie place office and bring everything back into one spot the better.
That whole debacle has been a failure of the board from day one.
But this view that just because the 737 is the most plentiful machine in the fleet that it is the thing making money and everyone else is a leech upon the finances is just wrong, and leads to a sense that the 737 crews are hard done by.
The 737 is very effective on many routes but it isn’t, with Virgin’s various and sometimes bizarre cost structure, the money tree that some think it is.
This joint has not made a lot of money for a long time. And as the biggest fleet, with the biggest pilot group, the largest maintenance requirements (overall not per machine) and the biggest fuel burn (again overall not individually) the 737 contributes to the losses in the bad times just as much as it contributes to the profits in the good times.
I respectfully suggest that each part of the business has a part to play, the pilots do not impact decisions such as how much to pay for leases or interior refurbs or additions such as wifi/internet/ife so if each pilot is operating their own airframe as efficiently and practically as possible then they are making their contribution to the success of the company. The fact that they fly an Airbus, 777, ATR, F100 or anything else does not diminish their personal contributions and to suggest that because the 737 is the biggest fleet and as a result deserves a better deal than the others is frankly insulting to the pilots flying on the other fleets.
That off my chest, I don’t think (hope) your were suggesting that Berealgetreal but there are some that do.
And again all that said above, the 737 guys and gals are working their respective rings off and it cannot be sustained. People cannot keep up the pace indefinitely and people will (have) start to fall over. This does not seem to have been recognised and I think it is obvious to blind Freddy that the fleet needs more bodies.
But again the individual pilots cannot directly influence that. Sure there are various means of dropping the hint - sick leave, resignations, more militant industrial relations discussions, but at the end of the day the business has got to want to resource the fleet appropriately, and spreadsheets don’t reflect the human toll, and I don’t think they are there yet. BUT the new CEO does, apparently, have a history of focusing on the staff and their welfare and well being, much more so than someone else we knew, so there is hope.
but someone has to tell him in an appropriate way. 80-90 emails from captains to his suggestion box simply saying “business class” isn’t it (though I agree with the sentiment!)