Supply and demand it is.
formertonka, the fact of the matter is that this is all accountant driven. Aircrew dont get retention incentives because they think they are gods gift, but because so many are leaving and it costs millions (tens of millions for the more experienced/qualified) to replace. Not to mention at least 5-10 years to train. You are completely correct that most that take it would stay anyway but at 60k a go, the treasury can easily afford to pay 20 if it keeps one. Unfortunately for the treasury all aircrew know that at the moment they can get a job that will, in the long term, be far more financially lucrative than 60k over 5 years and offer far more quality of life.
Likewise you are absolutely correct that if the RAF (or any other company) is short in other areas then retention initiatives should be applied there, but I think that the current perception at PMA is that in most areas we are doing redundancies, not retention. Of course after the redundancies / PVRs have settled down, we may find that PMA have misjudged things (is that possible?) I am a fan of targetted payments - I dont believe that because we are short of, say, multi pilots then all RAF aircrew should get the cash. So if its AAC AH guys who get a big payment and RAF FJ guys get nothing, then fine so be it.
Anyway, keep smiling, even when the s**t is up to your nose!
