but if you kill the golden goose today , you wont get any golden eggs for breakfast tomorrow
Very well put signeti. This very simple and easy to understand concept is the crux of the matter. CIPO, OBK et al, don't for one moment think that by joining FR on these terms that you will somehow build enough experience to go elsewhere that elsewhere will be any better. Why? As if elsewhere want to compete at FR's level they will claim they need to offer the same Ts and Cs. Whether this claim is valid, and I suspect it
isn't unless you're an accountant
, it will nonetheless be made.
People have made the claim that as these FNG's are low in experience they should be glad to take so little and be happy. The point being missed here is that, low time they may be, they are still AIRLINE PILOTS. And thus doing the same job as 2500hr FO's both here and elsewhere. If FR, and other airlines, decide that 250hr FO's can do the same, get paid less, what is the incentive to hire experienced people? So now the scenario exists where pay gets forced down and down for all FO's, in any airline. This will also decrease job mobility which will in turn lower Ts and Cs. Whereby captains pay will inevitably follow south.
CIPO, OBK etc, think this through carefully as once you set foot on the slippery slope, your prospects are not going to get much better.
CIPO, as for your buddies in "BMI,Virgin,BA,Aer Lingus" who allegedly agree with your course of action, absolute poppycock. Such pilots will never, and rightly so, agree with your actions for the very reasons I have outlined above, plus a large number of other reasons.
I should also point out to those who inevitably fall back to bleating "but its a 737NG, yadda, yadda, yadda". It is, but the thrill of it being that will wear off rather quickly when you realise you're broke. And don't have any great Ts and Cs to look forward to. I reckon this will take about 6 months at most, if you are like everyone else who starts an airline job.
Are you all aware that FR captains have been known to have to give newbie FO's money at the end of the day so they could actually afford to buy dinner?