Kaptin M: your comments are original and very clear, which make me wonder:
1) It might be none of my business, but does every pilot in Britain belong to a union? Can some airlines there allow an open shop, as happens in some US states? Many do not pay union dues nor belong. Most airline pilots here in the "states" realize that we are not looked upon as white-collar staff, but highly-skilled "blue collar" technicians, even if we wear military-style uniforms. Speaking of which, most pilots here tend to be rather conservative and find this 'blue-collar' self-image difficult to accept, especially some ex-military types (with many exceptions). Several years ago, a FEDEX Captain who I had jumpseated with told me weeks later (in one of our hubs), that a retired Naval Aviator who then flew as A-300 First Officer, told him that he liked the job so much that he would almost work for free (what a naiive sucker-perfect airline grey-haired cadet in his 40s...)! The Captain had no military check coming in each month and strongly resented the one fellow's attitude, and maybe others' similar views.
2) As has been said before on Pprune, you folks in Britain/Europe are now experiencing what thousands of US airline pilots have experienced since deregulation began here about 20 years ago. This followed two (OPEC) oil-embargo recessions during the 70s and an ATC strike and third recession (about '81), each of which caused thousands of furloughed pilots etc. Never mind in about '91. There were thousands of pilots at TWA, now without jobs, and at other once-fine airlines, some of which were ruined by the glut of bean-counter or attorney-CEOs running around from company to company, wailing about labor as the scapegoat. Some of these are ruthless vampires who can jeopardize our careers more than a thousand bank robbers could ever do-and it is legal. The sneaky ones own just enough stock to have ownership, and they quickly but smoothly "upstream" millions of dollars out of the airline into their holding companies. This is why many holding companies were created. One offered lucrative jobs to government judges after (or during?) certain key decisions were made in their favor, i.e. Texas Air Corporation.
Most major US airlines are now in a situation where our retirement "plans" years from now might be worth less than half of what a career long-distance lorry/truck driver might have-especially if he drives for the Teamsters (union) western region. I sat next to a truck driver not long ago on a plane who is retiring, and we discussed dollars, however tasteless this seems. Delta Airlines just sharply reduced its maximum fares with "Simplifares"-a 'brilliant move', reducing its revenue with the self-deception that it will keep people from lining up for the low-cost carriers, after Delta just barely avoided Chapter 11-for now... The present situation has already financially crippled thousands of retired US pilots, even those who flew wide-bodies to Asia and/or Europe for a major portion of their careers. In stark contrast, the most successful airline here (possibly in the world), Southwest, which is profitable each year and able to hedge much of its fuel, pays its pilots better than any other US carrier, and is heavily unionized!
Let's hope that you all don't see this select retirement "club" of impending gloom and doom on your horizons. Don't socialized governments have better regulations to prevent this very grim but real possibility?
