If the conditions of service of professional pilots in Australia could have a military analogy drawn, I would suggest we met our Waterloo in two places in the war lost over the last 16 years.
Firstly, the fatal decision to resign en masse during the industrial confrontation of 1989.
Secondly, the practice of paying for airline training enforced as a normal practice by Virgin Blue. This locking pilots into miniscule sub-inflation EBA gains as attrition of dissatisfied pilots has no bottom line effects.
Is there a common protagonist in the above Waterloos? Could we call the Chief Pilot of Virgin Blue Napolean Bonaparte?
After the complete destruction of the pilot Empire, will Napolean take his 17 million dollars and live an Elba like exile on the Sunshine coast?