It is with interest that I have followed this thread as an 'outsider' to Flybe, but a few things strike me as rather odd.
Why do pilots who pay their 1% to BALPA keep making comments like
I will never be a BALPA member again until I see some much stronger action from BALPA themselves
I joined Balpa a year or so ago and yeah i'm unhappy about the way they've gone about representing us
I too have seen no sign of Balpa fighting in our corner for pay parity
BALPA ar a disgrace
Why pay good money for a sub-standard union? If I pay money to someone I want something in return 24/7.
and I could go on.
It seems that many of your 60%(?) membership are not aware of how Balpa works within all airlines. You don't pay your money, sit back and wait for a result. Balpa is the organisation in the background, offering the support, assistance, guidance, legal backup etc to your Company Council. Your Company Council are who negotiates with your employer over terms and conditions. Have a (relatively) low membership and not a lot of interest in standing for election (I read only 1 person stood for election on this thread) and it is hardly surprising that their negotiation position is not the strongest to start with, let alone if things drag on and apathy has set in.
The only way you can get anything like what you say you want is to approach your employer with a united front, through a large collective membership of (whatever) body, be it Balpa or 'a n other', so when the negotiation starts to falter the reps have a mandate of your wishes, with a statement of what you are prepared to do to secure your wishes. This is what forces an employer to stay at the table to hammer out a deal, not 60% membership, most of whom haven't even told their reps what they want, certainly haven't stood up to the plate and told them what they are prepared to do collectively to get it and then bleat and say they are going to leave because of the 'toothless' performance of 'Balpa'!
Your employer must be laughing when they read such derision of Balpa. What you need to do is get an effective Company Council by at least supporting the one you have, getting some new blood in if required and giving them the mandate to negotiate on your behalf.
It never ceases to amaze me just how many pilots seem to think that they pay their 1% and therefore the great 'tiger' that (they perceive) is Balpa will get wheeled out on their behalf and when it proves to be toothless they start complaining and leaving in their droves.
With the pay and conditions as quoted on here it is not surprising your airline is viewed as a training airline by new joining pilots. They aspire to have a career on a decent wage to give them the lifestyle that they want. If they can find that elsewhere after a year or two at Flybe then they will move. As long as the training costs and supply of new joiners are cheaper than the alternative, the management will continue to do things the current way. Market forces may change this, but an increase in terms and conditions, negotiated through a strong CC representation and mandate could force them into action.
Now you probably think I am some kind of Balpa fan. Well, I am a member, in a charter airline with membership in the high 80%s which has an extremely effective Company Council that works in partnership with the airline management to facilitate mutual benefit. I am astounded at the team and what they have achieved over the last few years on my (and the other members) behalf. I have worked in other charter airlines who constantly aspire to our T's & C's and indeed where many of your colleagues have no doubt applied. The reason they are so successful? They are an extremely strong bunch of individuals, collectively even stronger, given a mandate by the members with over 80% representation. The company really HAVE to listen. Add this to the partnership approach achieving mutual benefit (usually through CC driven initiatives and ideas) and the company would be mad NOT to implement the changes! The sort of things I am talking about are day off working payments to pilots at an extremely attractive rate so plenty offer days back. This availability of pilots meant that the company sub-charter costs were slashed by something like £9m in the first year and approximately £3m was paid to the pilots in day off payments.
That is the way forward, not apathy and withdrawl of membership.
I wish you all well in Flybe.
PP