EI Whingefest...
Truly,EI pilots have brass necks...In today's Irish Independent(a paper not altogether friendly to EI),Capts Orla Clancy and Barry Tighe address the readership about their pay claim for a 100% pay-rise and how hard they are having it.It starts off with the claim that they should have pay parity with the other members of the OneWorld alliance,purely because they fly the same types to the same airports,ergo,they must have the same workload.??? Does that mean that I,as an engineer,or my fellow employees,be they cleaner,planner,storeman,receptionist,etc.can claim parity of pay with our erstwhile colleagues in the USA,OZ or UK,purely because we do the same job? That doesn't make sense.Living standards,taxes,costs of living in all these different countries make a mockery of that argument,not to mention the fact of non-recognition of licenses between these countries. After this,the poor mite goes on to explain how she's finding it hard to raise three kids on £50K per annum(no mention of her husband's salary,as a top civil servant,or his and her work-related benefits)and is reduced to driving a 1992 Passat and roughing it in chain-store clothing and having only a modest 4-bed semi-d.My heart bleeds.I wonder how much she'd make if she sold it,in these Celtic Tiger climes.She also whinges about early-morning starts,time away from home and lost weekends.No mention is made of the copious annual leave or the allowances,of course.
Capt.Tighe,to his credit,is more restrained,but still allows a whinette to slide in,"...or do damage to a finger or hand.You're finished..." That's what Loss of License insurance is for.No such benefit exists for engineers.He also gripes about how arduous flying the Atlantic is.He's so put out,so he says,that he's cut down to a four-day week.Not bad for £87K(+benefits)per annum.The fact that most pilots in EI would sell their first-born to get a seat on an Atlantic route is obviously beside the point.To quote one F/O who has recently achieved a 330 seat,"I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven!". To Ms.Clancy and her colleagues,I say,try it on less than half your annual take-home and a worse roster,and a work environment that is usually cold,wet,filthy and a perpetual health risk(from poisonous Hydraulic fluid,carcigogenic kerosene and oil,etc).
They were quite happy to accept 8% not that long ago.Obviously,time has faded their collective memories.
regards from the headset.
TDD