Originally Posted by
FullWings
In some ways having been on both sides helps both sides - there is understanding of the processes and it cuts out quite a lot of the BS.
There is also an intimate knowledge of exactly how far the knife blade can be pushed into your ex-colleagues backs before they react violently.
That's a handy skill to impress your Management colleagues.
By the way, on the subject of Mr.Walsh - he was an EI Cadet in 1979, and before his training in OATS ended the company realised they didn't need him anymore, due to the latest downturn. He was the most junior on the course, so last in first out etc.
The pilots union (IALPA) bent over backwards and made substantial working and salary concessions to encourage the company to finish his groups flight training. He was very active in the Union after that, some would say to protect his own fully exposed ar5e. His nickname was Boxcar Willy.
Within a few years he was climbing the greasy pole to Management level, where he proceeded to shaft the men and women who had sacrificed so much to stop him being turfed onto the street in '79. Hindsight is a bugger.
He never wanted to be a pilot anyway. He said so on the national radio station when interviewed at length about how he came to be CEO of EI. To paraphrase - "I only attended the interviews for practice. Never really aspired to it. Flying is boring. Management is where the fun is".
The final twist of the knife....