GB Airways Chief Pilot Shafted

[Norman Stanley Fletcher]

I am one of those who is in the process of leaving GB and I can tell you that most of what is written on here is not very accurate. I am certainly not leaving because I am hacked off with the company as is being suggested here. Lickalo.... is not a pilot by the tone of his reply and also because he is misinformed about the facts.

I am a big AP fan and am very sorry to see him go. I would also like to say what a good company GB is, despite the current difficulties financially. From a flight deck point of view they are superb in terms of operational standards and are excellent employers. That is the root of the problem in that until recently there have been virtually no resignations which has really put the dampers on promotion. As one of the contributors said earlier - people leaving is actually good for morale because it creates movement. I fully understand people rejoicing at any departures because they move up the seniority list, and I am not the slightest offended by it.

The AP issue is however not as simple as it seems. As an ex-employee of GB I have nothing to gain by being positive about the company but I do feel a set of innacurate views are being displayed here. The basic problem was that until recently a company of about 160 pilots had 2 parallel management structures - one for the 737 and one for the Airbus. With the demise of the 737 that has generated 'overmanning' in the managerial sphere. A 'compromise' was attempted whereby all the current managers divied up the jobs and got new titles to explain away the inevitable reduction in workload and responsibility that ensued. The simple problem was that there was not the same number of jobs available as had been the case previously. In the ensuing bunfight another manager fared better than AP which was obviously very disappointing for him personally as he was much respected by all the pilots at GB. He basically took the hump and decided to leave under a compensation deal because he felt passed over. You can always say that these things should be better handled and I have no doubt there are lessons to be learnt. The bottom line is that in the final analysis the top level management at GB were faced with a difficult situation of trying to please all the managers in a shrinking pool and inevitably could not do so. They have clearly chosen the successor to the current Flight Ops Director and he is the 'heir apparent'. They have to make some decision here and sadly a really great guy lost out to another great guy. That is life but it would be very unfair to somehow talk of crises and blood on the carpet. My take on this is very simple - with the demise of the 737 there were too many managers and some people were inevitably going to have less responsibility than they once did. There is nothing more sinister to it than that.

To 'The Ferret' - I am ex-RAF and know exactly what goes on in the pursuit of ambition in the military. Don't be fooled by all that is on this forum - it is miles better out here!