Originally Posted by
herewego75
It's not my intention to get into a heated argument about the above. Let me just point out to you that the quality of training and checking requirements have drastically dropped world wide. Captains leave the very capable FO's to man the ship during the middle of the night through the ITCZ. If that does not show confidence then I don't know?
So yes I stand by my statement - we have very capable FO's that WILL pass their courses in the near future. Even if it means a few more sectors or a longer course. It will be a whole lot cheaper than keeping a guy on housing for 10 more years etc. So I believe that the ARAPA pilots will be given a 6-12 month notice, layoffs will not commence until the company have used up all its options. I hate to point out the obvious, but ARAPA is the biggest cost out of all benefits we as pilots are lucky to receive ( except our provident fund ) and its a POLICY.
The question is will the AOA protect the jobs of every pilot or rather the housing of a third of its pilots?
And as I said before we will see bases close, COS18 ( or a big pay cut for the next 6 months ), reduction in schooling allowance, provident fund cuts, more SLS etc
But look on the bright side we will most likely be the only airline that don't layoff crew and that will be a miracle in itself. EK and QATAR have slowly started this already.
Yes, we have some very capable FO’s, without question. The reason that commanders often leave those FO’s in charge through the ITCZ is not only as a result of their capabilities but due to fatigue mitigation, so they as commanders, have a semblance of alertness for the upcoming approach and landing. You’re right, training standards the world over, have dropped but there are still standards nevertheless and make no mistake, CX is still very picky about its command standard.
I don’t think for one minute that we all aren’t going to experience cuts and probably, deep cuts at that. I also concede that ARAPA is very much in the cross hairs (and has been for sometime).
What you fail to appreciate however, is that the company needs to stem the cash haemorrhage now, not several months down the line and what you propose will take that, several months, at least and by then, there may well be an uptick in the industry. Also, the “very capable senior FO’s” that are next in line for command upgrades, are most likely at the tail end of CoS99 or the beginning of CoS08 and therefore, all on ARAPA (LEP’s excluded unfortunately). So, your proposal is cost neutral at best. However, if the company were to scrap ARAPA altogether (and that’s a distinct possibility), letting 500 captains go and lose all that experience on the flight deck to only then train up FO’s to commanders, is illogical and I would bet, more costly than keeping everyone in their rank and just scrapping ARAPA.
The truth is, nobody knows what the company is going to do (maybe not even the managers themselves, right now) so, to try and second guess their decision, only sets you up for frustration and disappointment and upsets your colleagues in the process. Further, it is incumbent upon the HKAOA to fight for every pilot’s contract, irrespective of what contract they’re on and not rob Peter to pay Paul.
I am trying to look on the bright side and I sincerely hope we all get to keep our jobs with the minimum financial loss to ourselves and our families. Best of luck to us all.