why has no-one pointed out the seemingly obvious. If ALT succeed in setting up a new base ANYWHERE with lower T&Cs the next and undeniable move will be to start flying those pilots into and out of DUB thereby undermining the work of the existing employees. This is not rocket science..........
If slots can be moved out of Ireland to NI, why not to JFK, BOS, ORD, AMS, CDG, and on and on. ALT might just decide to put on one early and one late flight to LHR from DUB.....
They claim to have ordered new aircraft(although waht DM actually said was that they had "put in place plans" to buy aircraft....no form orders have shown up anywhere!!) If they do ever actually take delivery, it is likely each new aircraft will go to a new base and then commence flights into DUB....
Local T&C and pay rates is a red herring in the aviation business as it pertains to pilots. Pilots are mobile workers on mobile assets. All you need to do is "base" them in a low cost environment and then "operate" them into your chosen market....look at the shipping industry. Irish Ferries was a wake up call. They operate slow cumbersome craft that cannot easily relocate too far from your market area. Aircraft can go home to eastern europe every night, and if you've succeeded in screwing the working conditions sufficiently, they can be back in your home base by start of business the next morning...........or of course you simply "overnight" the new pilots in your base, putting them up ála Ryanair at their own expense.....game over
