Sorry to disappoint, but I am not in management, never have been and have no desire to be.
Torque2, you may wish to check with the CC to confirm that they have allowed the Company to employ up to 16 cadets at anyone time. Around 12 are currently flying with MYT. If you wish to discuss the morality of what the Company is doing by way of charging over £30,000 for a type conversion and 150 hours of line training, before being paid for gainful employment, then we may be in agreement. All the cadets leave at the end of October and as you say the Company is trying to find employment for them.
Strange, how when anyone voices a different view or disagrees with what is perceived to be in line with normal pilot opinion they are denigrated and vilified. Not to worry, I guess it is part of life’s rich pattern that one has to accept.
By all means continue to take shots in my direction, but you may also wish to consider that 3 directors in TCX were awarded approximately £200,000 of shares for being responsible for the successful merger, in addition to purchasing £1.8m of shares for future bonuses, while at the same time announcing 2300 redundancies.
As Lima or Alpha Junk mentioned this subject raises serious issues and it is sad that the debate has already headed south. I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with what I have written. We all have opinions and hopefully are free to express them without the vitriol that is sometimes directed at those who beg to differ.
Lima and others, you may wish to consider how our industry has changed over the last 20 years. Companies, such as UK inclusive tour operators with their own airlines are now global and part of their assets are planes and pilots. It seems to make sense that these assets are moved around the business to take advantage of high and low seasons in the different countries that they do business. Using the MYT example you say:
“How anyone can justify making redundancies whilst Canadians are able to come in and earn extra money in their quiet period is beyond me.”
As a reminder MYT as well as FCA pilots go to Canada and have done for a number of years during our quiet periods. (Even during the period when Canadian airlines such as Canada 3000, were going out of business) Would you be happy that these opportunities are not available to UK pilots? There has never been any lack of volunteers and I suspect this winter will be no different. I think it also needs to be considered that if there was no exchange of pilots between Skyservice and MYT there is a possibility that both companies may fully crew for their busy seasons and lay off pilots in their quiet season. I, for one hope that the charter industry never treats pilots in the same way as it does seasonal cabin crew, some of whom are in their 5th season as a temporary with MYT. Is it not better to have pilots fully employed throughout the year so that not only do they remain flying but can also join a companies pension scheme after 6 months service?
I agree that it does seem that the UK is not as robust as other countries when it comes to employing nationals, but I would venture to suggest that far more UK pilots work overseas than do foreigners in this country. And while this is no comfort to those seeking their first flying job we need to be careful that we do not become too hidebound by our perceptions and keep an open mind, while remembering that many of us now work for a global company.
History has taught us that the harsh reality of the industry we work in has far more failures than successes and as I approach doubles figures on the number of experiences I have had with failed airlines or redundancies I find it difficult to accept lectures from those who take the moral high ground.