Spot on fullforward...devils advocate.
Now of course the EK management could have avoided all this unpleasantness by doing their hiring just slightly differently, for example, the way SV did during the very early eighties, when 747's were added to the fleet.
At that time SV was operating 16 TriStars, and when the 747's arrived, all of the TriStar Captains/First Officers/Flight Engineers were move up accordingly, which left a rather large void on the TriStar fleet.
Their solution was to hire direct entry Captains and First Officers (as well as Flight Engineers) and train these folks on the Lockheed equipment.
This has the advantage of...
Having the aircraft operated their way,
Allowed those already there to move up to senior equipment,
And, filled the seats with previously qualified pilots who had a proven record of accomplishment.
An added advantage (from my perspective) was that SV did not allow any military experience into the equation (except for Professional Flight Engineers).
Captains hired directly onto the TriStar.
First Officers hired, with no promises whatsoever of being upgraded to Command (altho a few were, ten years later after moving to the RHS of the 747 later on, after the TriStar).
No hard feelings...no unkept promises, and rather large tax-free paychecks for all.
EK could have done the same, but apparently choose not to do so. Now EK management(?) is in the untenable position of having to deal with guys who have been lied to....never a satisfactory arrangement.
Last edited by 411A; 23rd Dec 2003 at 07:36.