There appear to be quite a few neanderthals alive and well on this site....Is it unreasonable for a working mother to want to be continue in a job as well as raise children? Also, statements that women wont be recruited by big companies is also a fallacy. Large companies have massive Personnel/People/Human Resources departments stuffed with the politically correct do gooders that love to populate their companies with minorities/women. Small businesses probably will file the next female application in the circular file, but big companies can't get away with doing that.
Also, management pilots , some of whom are spectacularly good (and some are spectacularly bad) are exposed to the operation when not flying, unlike a part timer who probably has other things on their mind when they drive to work. Rewriting manuals and the other stuff that they fill their busy 1030-1530 days refreshes the pilot skills that we all use. Lets face it, nowadays, actual hands on flying is a small part of the job, and it is the SOP side of things and the feeling of being thrown in the deep end that the 50% part timer will struggle with.
In short , I believe this case has done the part timers case the world of good, especially with the new legislation coming into effect next year, where BA anticipate loads of 50 something pilots will want the opportunity to wind down for the last few yrs of their extended career. Hopefully, this will make it easier for them to achieve this.
We all received a letter from POD the other day saying how BA is going to struggle more than their competitors with the impending age legislation because other companies already retire their pilots later, or have a different way of paying their pilots.IMHO, absolute rubbish. Compared with the AF, IB, LH, US carriers we have been underpaid for years, who, with the exception of the Yanks, seem to be coping well with paying their pilots these "extra costs". What POD means, I suspect, is with the bloated cost base that is BA, they will find it difficult to find the extra money. If it forces BA mgmt to cut out the excesses that we see in other departments,in order to comply with its legal obligations, then perhaps JH's ruling may do us all a big favour in the long run. ( Even though I think she is taking the piss)