Yes, there are bigger issues, but tolerating stuff like this name change, and ignoring the feelings of the majority, is corrosive to the main. You only have to look at the AFCAS to see it, and ignoring the survey as it was a “done deal”, to appease an unrepresentative and minuscule minority, will only make it worse.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statis...de-survey-2021
Headlines from the 2021 AFCAS
24% of the RAF think that change is managed well in the Service.
Ie. 76% think it is bad!
17% of the RAF thought that morale was high, and 29% thought it was low.
Ie. 83% think it’s ‘meh!’ or bad.
77% of the RAF thought their
immediate superior understood and represents their interests.
Ie. Immediate leadership is good.
29% of the RAF thought that their senior leadership (1-star and above) understood and represented their interests.
Ie. 71% think that 1-star and above are disconnected from what they want.
42% of the RAF had confidence in their senior leadership (1-star and above).
Ie. 58% have no confidence!
46% of the RAF felt valued by their Service.
Ie. 54% don’t feel valued.
29% of the RAF plan to stay as long as they can.
Ie. 71% are planning to leave as soon as they reasonably can!
55% of the RAF intend to leave at their next end of engagement, or stay until the end of it.
Ie. 55% plan to leave without disadvantaging themselves.
3.7% of the RAF thought they felt discriminated against on the grounds of gender.
Ie. Around 1,000 RAF Personnel of ~31,750.
1.2% of the RAF felt they were harassed on the grounds of gender.
Ie. Around 380 RAF Personnel of ~31,750.
51% of the RAF are satisfied with their Service Families’ Accommodation.
Ie. 49% are dissatisfied with their married quarters.
45% of the RAF are satisfied with their Single Living Accommodation.
Ie. 55% are dissatisfied with their mess accomodation.
So what does that tell me? That personnel feel disconnected from their senior leadership (and it’s not surprising why) and people are more concerned about the poor state of their accommodation than they are about serious gender diversity and inclusion issues. It’s not just a 2021 thing either, but the WO and Senior Officer ‘Sycophant Twitterati’ that they seem to be listening to, do not represent the main stream views of the majority work force. We ignore that majority at our peril, if the rumoured 75%+ didn’t agree with the recent name change, this can only lead to higher dissatisfaction. It is also something that won’t be fixed by a single action, but any marginal gains are quickly eroded by a death by a thousand cuts!
Of the two dozen female colleagues that I have asked about the Aviator/Aviatrix, very few gave two hoots about the supposed gender issue raised by the legacy terms. However, 100% have said “My role is not an aviator, and I am a ********” (where ******** is any other Branch or Trade that does not involve flying). So really this seems to be a catastrophic fail all around from the opinions I hear about in the workspace.
If it was a lead on IOT then I suspect it would be a reshow!