Pirsig, i am not at all saying that we should accept things as they are or leave the company at all. And i also agree that being based in MAN does indeed shelter us from some of the concerns that you guys have.
Firstly i'm not saying that the proposed move to Jubilee house is a non-event, far from it, i know it will effect you guys and girls enormously. However you can't disaggree that the hive is overcrowded, and as such something needs to be done about it. In my opinion a move for the flight/cabin crew to a new location, (ie. Jubilee house), closer to the a/c is more sensible than sticking the commercial and finance people there.
No your right, I haven't had much experience working out of LGW, and thats something i have brought up on more than one occasion, (because we do feel rather isolated), however on the rare occasion i have been there, trying to get through security in one of the transits has been a nightmare. Surely being based somewhere that you've already had to go airside to get into,(again ie. Jubilee House), therefore cutting that hassle out from the journey to the aircraft has to be an impovement. Don't get me wrong, having the crew report at the Beehive is a fantasic perk and the parking just makes that better, but the truth is, it can't go on forever. Atleast if you move soon you'll get a decent office, and not some hole which is still a 10 minute bus ride from security.
"and I joined a Scheduled BA Franchise airline"
Yes that's true but with the current atmosphere between us and BA, and the rumours that abound that situation, are we going to be for much longer? If we go it alone then what do you think we'll be, and i get the feeling thats why Connect, (shortly to be defunct), was brought into MAN and the other outstations. BOB is what we'll do if we take the leap as GB.
You talk about your nice little run of IBZ, PFO, IBZ, i agree that can't be too nice, however, we don't have any short flights like IBZ's up here and many many times in the past 18 months have I had night TFS, night TFS, night TFS, or maybe PFO, night TFS, night PFO. Or even the really late PFO, getting back at 5.30 in the morning, twice a month. So to say we don't do that sort of flying isn't exactly fair.
Originally Posted by
Pirsig
As you quite rightly point out, profit related pay is intrinsically linked to a company’s profit. No profit, no bonus. More importantly however, a company consistently failing to make a profit leads where......not really that difficult to comprehend.
Your dead right, however, correct me if i'm wrong, were we not making a profit up until a few years ago. And it doesn't help when your consistantly paying over the odds for a Franchise agreement that rarely keeps up its end of the the bargain. Hence the shift in a/c loading recently, and moving to a cheaper, (and in many cases better, or atleast on the spares front), engineering provider. I'm sure most people would see that as progress. Oh and consistently losing money doesn't necassarily mean one thing, just look at a certain charter company who were really in the proverbial pooh a couple of years ago. (Different circumstances i know but just goes to prove you never really know what can happen, they all thought there was one outcome for that particular company.)
Originally Posted by
Pirsig
People who join from other outfits stating 'well things were considerably worse as a cruise relief pilot for International Afghan Air Routes', and so by direct comparison GB is absolutely fantastic, just confuse the issues at hand.
Very true, if i was comparing GB to being a cruise relief pilot for International Afghan Air Routes, which i'm not, (do they even exist, or is it a VA you're the CEO of?). I agree for a long time GB was the best UK shorthaul airline to work for, however times change and as a result of that we have to loose some of those privileges we have to keep the company going. I'm not saying we should roll over and do whatever the company wants with no recompence, far from it, conditions have to be protected, (to a reasonable extent), but would it really be better if we carried on, without anything being done until one day when suddenly, the Godfathers go, we've run out of money, and we're cutting our losses and closing the airline. Personally, i'd rather do something about it sooner rather than later.
I do agree with you completely that there is a need to discuss conditions within the work place, and I am in no way taking a military attitude and saying we should do whatever the company wants us to. T+C's are there for a reason, but they have to be protected to a reasonable extent. But just remember that if you push it too hard, then there may not be a companies T+C's there for you to protect. Give and Take is the answer, not fighting to the death... That only results in one thing, Death, and thats not what anyone wants.
I'm totally commited to GB and i'm not (actively or not), looking to move anywhere else. We have the opportunity to be a great independent carrier, (if thats what happens), but in my opinion bitching about who you work for does nothing to help their cause. GB has a fantastic bunch of people working within its ranks, and i agree with what has been said before, 99.9% of the crew you work with will be a great laugh and will make a long day pass like its been a AGP, as it has today, (not an AGP, far from it infact).
Also I would completely support you in a vote about JH, (depending on the terms being offered). However as I've said before, in situations such as this, all it takes is a bit of give and take from both sides to come out with an amicable agreement, that suits the companies needs to cut costs and the workforces need to protect their conditions.
Oh and Shaftspeare, you say,
Originally Posted by
Shaftspeare
the vague hope of maybe someday being absorbed are now fading fast - despite the best wishes of the piloting fraternity at BA who of course would love nothing more than to see the girls and boys of GB amalgamated into their seniority list!
I think you might find quite a bit of opposition to that in mainline, as most wouldn't want their chance of command/74/777 being taken away from them by GB flightdeck. If they bought us then i think you'd find we'd be at the bottom of the seniority list, with a massive number of 320 rated pilots ahead of us, (you're looking at 12 years to command i believe).
I hope nobody will take this as an attack on their viewpoint or position on many of these issues. I'm simply putting across my point of view, having been through the situation of compulsary redundancy in a previous company, (which isn't pleasant). After all it is Pprune, and we're free to say what we want.
In my opinion GB is a great company, and yes its having its troubles, but atleast its actively trying to sort them out rather than sitting back and let the 'inevitable happen'.
Sorry for the really long post!!