Originally Posted by
NoelEvans
Saying that "I want a seniority system" but then saying that "In case of redundancy I'll be fine because there are lots of non-seniority airlines out there" does appear to be a whole lot less of a 'fair play' attitude than I am used to from Kiwis!
The point was, there's a place for both and Pilots are free to choose Seniority or otherwise when deciding where they want to work. Don't moan about Airline X being Seniority based, take a DEC somewhere else. Seniority has it's place.
Over the years I've encountered plenty of Pilots who decided staying in New Zealand was for chumps, and "real Pilots" head overseas to Cathay, Emirates and the like. Plenty of them on these forums love to have a dig at Air NZ/QF from time to time. Now that the grass isn't so green however, they complain about Seniority being outdated and they'd come home if they could but Air NZ won't give them a 777 DEC. The irony of course, is these forums are full of expats warning others "don't come here!" but if we opened up DEC's and removed seniority, many of us would have to go there or face being career FO's. There just aren't that many Jobs here so I'm thankful we're protected by Seniority... Retirements are forecast to
increase to around 30 per year at Air NZ. Without Seniority, those WB Commands would be farmed out to the lowest bidding expat.
In Europe however, as I said in an earlier post, I can see how Seniority could be more detrimental than beneficial. The industry seems far less stable there with fluctuating T's & C's so I can see why Pilots would want more freedom to move.
My comment about "plenty of non-seniority based Airlines" referred to contracting jobs in Asia... as that's where most guys end up if they're hard up for work (and have Jet Time). Many being 5 years with the option to renew. Certainly not my first choice, but better than unemployment. Weighing up the Pro's and Con's of Seniority and the likelihood I find myself in that position, I'll take my chances with Seniority.