Originally Posted by
flyinghorseman
This is how it worked in the wild west a few decades ago. The pilot group can
be catagorised in about 4 groups.
1. Professional conpetent crew who know their job and pass checks and will do what is right for the pilot group.
2. Crew (nominally 2-3 Captains) who are marginal at the job, scrape through sims and are **** scared to stand up industrially as their job hangs by the next sim. They fly during protected industrial action to garnish favour with the company, lap up the extra crumbs and diminish the effectiveness of industrial action.
3. With no firm seniority system the first officers seeking promotion don't wish to be seen to be militant (read- stand up to their rights) as they fear being by-passed for a command position.
4. A mix of the above who have rarely and in some cases never crewed an aircraft outside of Western Australia (flat earthers..) who crap themselves at the thought of moving interstate for another gig.
By example other group entities are paying a minimum of $2,000 to front up to work on a day off to crew or pax on a positioning flight. To consider doing this for a few hundred $$$ is obscene.
I am thankfully retired now but witnessed all the above involving individuals
who are now at the company in question. You have a huge advantage of having the troops in one crewroom in one base. And yet solidarity is still illusive. Ask yourself where you and your fellow pilots stand and wonder if they will stand with you or you will stand with them when the going gets tough.
Goid luck. You will need it all.
Pretty accurate.
I'd just add the following to point 2:
Some of those marginal captains who scrape through sims as FO's are in good standing at the local Jandakot aeroclub where they plied thier trade in the circuit before their Perth based Airline gig. Having had little exposure beyond the circuit and training area, in a valiant effort to hide their marginal flying skills, they find the best way to make use of that Grade 1 and make a nuisance of themselves in the training department of said Perth based Airline. There they find passing sims, just a tad easier than when they were just a lowly line pilot. Some with circuit hero bragging rights have even found themselves ensconsed in the lofty heights of training manangement, where they can really make a difference - to their own careers.
These aren't the people you'd trust to be still be around at the Christmas party when it's their shout, let alone have the pilots backs come EBA negotiation time.