Originally Posted by
Whitemonk Returns
I'm curious what those in the sandpit see as the long term implications of how EK and QR have played this whole thing re seniority. Two things we know for sure, pilots have short memories and right now any job is a good job... However I personally believe how they have cut people will hinder their long term recruitment prospects in the future. You will likely see a rise in T & Cs faster than we will in Europe as they struggle to convince people to trust them enough to uproot their families and move to the pit. I never expected EK or the like to treat their employees with respect or even decency but I did expect them to respect their seniority. Why would anyone in the future leave a job in Europe/US/Asia to join as an FO when 4 or 5 years in you could be cut adrift simply because you were unfortunate enough to need a few weeks off sick for any random number of reasons, it's not worth it anymore.
I would respectfully disagree - I dont think that the ME airlines will have any problems recruiting in the future as supply is going to outpace demand for many years, and will continue to do so due to the way that training is now carried out and the ability of people who want to be Pilots can self fund their training.
I also dont think that the argument that people will not move to the sandpit due to the insecurity of employment holds water as if you do long enough in this industry you eventually realise that no airline is fundamentally secure no matter what country it is in. For instance I know many flight crew in the US who have lost jobs and been furloughed (in some cases several times) over their long careers.