Our future?
The sad thing with all this is what management forget is that as a pilot group we have a vested interest in the success of the company as we are generally there for a career. Managers come and go and are often in it for what they can get out of it NOW or in a 3 year term then leave.
When it comes to long haul flying, why reinvent the wheel when there are a mass of guys with long haul experience to tap into to help setting up the operation. Maybe then it would avoid a situation where the 1st 8 ER's must be taken off line to go back to Boeing and have the crew rests retrofitted at a huge cost I am sure. This after money was probably paid to have them removed in the 1st place. What a waste of money! But don't dare carry an extra bit of gas. Doesn't take a genius to figure you need proper crew rest facilities to fly long haul. This is only 1 example of the total disregard for expertise within the company.
Reinvent the wheel - we know better than the rest of the aviation world. Keep discovering!
We cannot afford to lose good people due to bad management.