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Old 11th Jun 2020, 22:27
  #528 (permalink)  
Flightrider
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 1,465
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Unhappy tidings delivered today to a great many good people at Virgin Atlantic, particularly on the 747 fleet.

42 senior people took voluntary severance recently, and their actions will undoubtedly have saved an equivalent number of jobs for those further down the seniority list. It's disappointing to see that more than a few, many with very little time left to run, cannot find a similarly altruistic trait within themselves. Despite the significant benefits enjoyed over a great many years and pension pots long since hitting the lifetime maximum allowance - so a modest sacrifice, in the wider scheme - their decision to remain today has left others with far greater dependence on their income without a job or livelihood tomorrow.

My abiding memory from a management role in another airline at the height of the 2008/9 downturn was of a small pilot cadre coming in to see me one day with a clear message. Hugely experienced and excellent operators all, they said that if redundancies were to become necessary in the airline, I should simply say so and they would resign there and then. They said they had had their time; reaped the benefits of a long career in aviation and were still flying because they enjoyed it; but would never ever stay if it meant putting colleagues out of a job, denting their careers and leaving them unable to support their families. I did not have to take up their offer, but their words have remained with me since. I simply wish that those who are able to make that same sacrifice today (and, for many reasons, it is not a universal ability based purely on age) could live up to that example. Many have, and for those who have been able to do so, it will be to their eternal credit.

Last edited by Flightrider; 11th Jun 2020 at 22:37.
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