1. The insults seem to go both ways, so some should stop trying to always point at QF w@n#ers. It's a bigger group so, naturally, more opinions to disagree with.... nothing new there.
2. History is just that... NONE of the current AIPA Executive told the JPC to get lost a few years ago ok. It is also recognised by many (& maybe most?) that to
not get J* pilots on board before it came to this was a big mistake. There're plenty of theories about why that may have been allowed to occur at the time.
3. Even previous AIPA helped
improve J* conditions from abysmal to be tolerable to some.
4. Despite QF & GD continually talking in the media about the many awards and unions which need simplification, when AIPA seriously proposes award unifications, simplifications and a 'group opportunity list' (who has the most to gain from that?) they get told "It's never going to happen!" by GD! Who does that serve, and why do some J*-centric opinions not see through the spin and ulterior perception management going on?
5. I believe Mr Joyce's August letter misrepresented several issues to you. As I understood it, AIPA's valid concern was that new and different standards (ie not as stringent as have previously applied to QF itself) were being applied to an expedited ETOPS approval under the implied commercial duress to CASA of selling tickets on iminent services yet to gain ETOPS approval. It's just too easy to write it all off as purely an 'industrial claim'. QF pilots have realised that it pays to have a healthy cynicism: look through the spin. The truth is there somewhere, sometimes a LONG way beneath the surface.
And GA guys/gals? Take whatever opportuity fits you best. Just realise that, in the current climate, and only in the most limited numbers, does anyone change between any QF-group airline. The QF group management is playing dirty to keep all the QF-group pilots apart. It seems that until large numbers start leaving from any 'separate subsidiary', most likely from the bottom-dollar up, QF will remain an aggressive employer offering slow progression unless you're in the bottom-dollar group. The flip side is that maybe, in the not-too-distant-future, it's the bottom-dollar pilots who'll use the expertise gained to fly the coop for some 'world's best practice' remuneration, often
substantially better than QF's! Those of us looking at nearly 20yrs to command because we took the QF discount (S/O and slow promo) in the first place, are now feeling pretty naive in retrospect.
