It seems that LIFO agreements nowadays are only as good as the strength of the union behind the negotiations. Friends in some legacy airlines in Europe have seen historic LIFO agreements morph into various hybrid versions of LIFO, where the airline has insisted some weighting is given towards the ‘performance’ of the employee. At least there is total transparency as to how people are selected.
Should EK feel that pilot numbers need to be trimmed further, I have a feeling that the company will avoid making anymore pilots redundant, so that any leaks to the press can be prevented. Instead, periods of prolonged periods of unpaid leave will be distributed, knowing the resignations will happen sooner or later. It would amount to constrictive dismissal in the developed world.
I personally am surprised the company has not closed down the provident fund scheme and allowed us to cash in, minus the current value of our EOSB. It would save the company upwards of 20 million USD in company contributions alone each year (based on my fag packet maths), plus it delivers very little if any benefit to the Dubai economy. The cynic within me thinks the company is willing to overlook this cost saving, since releasing this capital would enable a number to sustain themselves, should we start seeing lengthy periods of unpaid leave.