Pat Pong
Thanks for that very enlightening post. However, ignoring for a moment the thoroughly reprehensible conduct of the airline, one or two issues arise therefrom as follows:
1. I am left to ponder as to the length of time between the occurrence of JW’s ASR submission and the eventual resolution by default (there was NOT, it seems a resolution as such, merely a departure of the employee). You report that “Ryanair moved IMMEDIATELY [own emphasis] to a disciplinary meeting”, following which certain posturing led eventually to J****’s departure from Ryanair to another employer. Given that most pilots are on contracts requiring 3 months notice or more, it would seem that the posturing between the airline and BALPA may have gone on for sufficient time for the hapless pilot to be either stood down from duty or forced to work out the notice period while worrying as to the eventual outcome for that very long period of time;
2. While I acknowledge that J**** is reported to have been ‘delighted’ with BALPA’s support, I wonder what kind of support there really was in assisting in retention of the position with Ryanair. That J***** chose to leave Ryanair may not have been the preferred choice and may have been driven by despair as to a perceived satisfactory resolution to the problem. That a pilot should feel driven to leave employment in these circumstances is, to me, a somewhat bizarre solution to the quite outrageous facts in this case;
3. Though J***** may now feel that he/she is better off with the new employer, the fact remains that Ryanair has not been ‘brought to book’ for its conduct in the matter and may well feel free to repeat the exercise with some other hapless employee, necessitating repetition of precisely the same posturing and blowing of smoke. Would it not have been far better to see the pilot remain employed and Ryanair ‘educated’ as to the error of its ways?
As to my rejoining BALPA, I would be delighted to do so the very moment I see that it truly represents the best interests of its pilot membership. But it had better make rapid changes for I will soon retire, and nothing in this case leads me to alter my present stance on BALPA.
[This message has been edited by tilii (edited 06 July 2001).]
[ 07 July 2001: Message edited by: Sick Squid ]