Originally Posted by
Sam Ting Wong
If they can get away with it, yes, of course.
It all depends on demand and supply of workers. Companies are only nice if not being nice would block necessary human resources or risk a costly public backlash, reduce productivity etc. For instance, it might be actually beneficial for a company to deliberately illegally brake a contract or law if the repercussions are less costly than the status quo. Law suits are part of the business, they are just another strategic instrument. So are fines, just part of the business. Also keep in mind, in HK many of the practices most pilots call illegal are probably even legit, e.g "breaking" an employment contract and replacing it with another one.
This is how it has worked at the big Middle East 3, since 2005. Nice when the pilot force is lean, bonus paid, pay increase, lots of respect. When the pilot force is abundant, no bonus, no pay increase and a slash of conditions if they can get away with it. It’s atrocious but seems to be the way business is done these days.
It’s a cycle that will continue until the profession of being an airline pilot is reduced to nothing more than a city bus driver. Nothing against being a bus driver but you don’t have to spend 40k$ to learn to be a bus driver.