Here here,
Its about time some managers and the "upper" levels of airline management got the message that althought they earn more and perhaps take on more responsibility so far as management roles are concerened, they are still human beings and not the be all and end all of a company's success.
I have been lucky enough in my relatively short life so far to have been exposed to many many levels of an airlines structure and i most certainly hope to get to the top myself, but I will never forget how to have fun. I used to want to be another lemming and follow the line to the big rat in the sky, but having seen the deterioration of how they treat their crew I no longer see them as my #1 choice. Yes they have a good reputation and still pay a very livable salary but to me the salary should come second to personal happiness at work.
I have heard many a good word come out of the Branson empire and I have not met an employee who is not happy at work. If you have a boss who is willing to take notice of why you're not happy at work and honestly tries to do something about they will always have a loyal and willing workforce.
To be sacked for such a stupid reason is pure folly. The money poured into that employee would be quite significant to say the least and to throw that away because some manager couldn't handle a laugh is a joke in itself. He must be stupid to put personal pride etc in the way of running a company.
VB have done well in picking up an employee who knows how to still have fun having put up with the amount of crap that aviation throws at us all.
Had i done that, and it is something I am most likely to do, i would full well expect peanuts thrown back, a laugh in response and a good relationship to develop between all staff members, I mean, for *%#$@ sake its not like he wrote off an aircraft.
Like i said earlier, any company that encourages their staff members to be happy (like
VB) will do better in the long run. Happy and willing staff mean happy and return customers and therefor more success in the future. Its about time the other airlines woke up, took their staff complaints seriously, learnt how to laugh, tried to fix problems, looked at ways to reinvest profits into the company instead of larger salaries for executives - the privilaged few of a large family, all working towards the same goal - a great airline, with excellent service and happy repeat customers.
Well done
VB for still knowing how to laugh and have fun. You'll get my CV in about a year.
Twin