Compo,
A well written and balanced post by you. Permit me to respond to some of your points:
>>I bear no malice against those individuals who decided to come to CXF/ASL and take an offered position. A job is a job. I feel pretty sure that all of them were aware of the industrial situation at the time.<<
I suspect some of the later joiners may have become aware however the first ones thru’ the door had absolutely no idea of the hornets nest they were entering. Had I known I would NOT have bothered. Perhaps the AOA should have conducted a more vigorous awareness campaign worldwide at the time? I certainly went to great lengths to dissuade others from taking the Swire shilling, on this contract, as a result of the less than warm reception we received.
>> The only thing that bothers me is the attempt (after so few years) to bypass their fellow pilots to advance their own position. It was made perfectly clear to you all at the time by the company that you would only ever fly boxes. <<
The vast majority of ASL captains I have spoken to ONLY want to move boxes- be assured on that one! The thought of having to deal with the niff-naff and trivia of carrying punters again leaves me cold. You are welcome to it and you DESERVE the extra money!
>>The possibility of flying PAX when you have the seniority is a major concession by the pilots of "mainline" but this doesn't seem to be enough. <<
Please see previous response.
>>Whatever you do, remember that the company loves a divided workforce. We are divided by CoS and by seniority lists at the moment. The AOA managed to get you a big win with the rostering practices (ie you now have some AND they are the same as pax/mainline). <<
We are grateful to the AOA for that although, in truth, the AOA were actually fighting the corner of the VETA freighter guys. Incidentally had the AOA negotiated a deal that ‘ring-fenced’ the older captains on freighters until they retired then I believe ASL would now be extinct. I certainly would have signed across AND paid my dues to the AOA. I believe the vast majority of my ‘old-fart’ colleagues would have done like-wise.
>>Time to be grateful and not to rock the boat, one would think. "If we keep quiet, we may get some more wins on the coat tails of the mainline guys. We certainly don't want to p**s them off." <<
I concur entirely. As in all organizations, and groups of people, there are always those that shout loudest. Trouble is that it is their views that get imprinted on viewers and listeners minds. I would prefer to know what the silent majority are actually thinking.
Tailpiece-
Now that rostering would appear to be on the way to being fixed I would like to suggest that fair play be administered, in the new year, towards those who had their remuneration tampered with during the 'downturn'. At the time it may have seemed a realistic thing to do but now even those of us skulking at the bottom of the food chain think you were stuffed. An unsolicited generous gesture from management in this regard would go a long way to getting the key players back on side.
Getting the key players back onside will filter down as they pull the stops out and encourage their subordinates. The ultimate knock-on effect will, in my opinion, be the airline once again having a 'can-do' attitude. It goes without saying that, within a very short period of time, the consequent rapid growth period with an ‘on-side’ team would result in CX actually scratching for F/O's to promote to command.
I hope I am not being too naïve as I feel there is still an opportunity, with good will on all sides, to really put this airline back on the map.
I wish you all that you would wish yourselves for 2001
Blue skies
SM