Having been on flight decks of DC3 DC6 Electra 732’s 733/4/5’s 738’s and scare buses as “operating crew” and “owners representative” I don’t think you’ll ever persuade me that the workload is not decreasing.
It may be true you have more hours on type – but how many full production test flights have you done ? – I count well into double figures – how many ferry’s ? – for me too many to count.
It’s strange you can accuse me of treating pilots with contempt – only the other day I was accused of being a “pilot lover”.
I’m glad you treat the ground guys well – not all pilots do.
I “feel” a lot because these are opinions held by myself and I belive others (some aviation related some not) – if you wish to disregard these opinions feel free – but I’m not sure it says much for your CRM and it sure doesn’t bode well in any effort SAA pilots are going to make in gaining support for a possible pay rise – unless you don’t care about the division within the airline this will cause.
If you can’t persuade me a “technical man” with an understanding of what you do (no matter how limited you’ve decided this understanding is) that you are overworked and deserve more money / less time – how on earth do you think your going to persuade the lay person ?
I have spent LOTS of time in the atrium buying coffee and drinking it in that little area outside where you could smoke – admittedly not since 1st Q this year – and heard lots of moaning but seen few truly underpaid / overworked crews.
But the coffee sure has improved since the days SAA had A320’s.
Edited to say
Oh – I should say I’ve seen underpaid overworked crew – just not SAA ones