The True Story
I have never read such a load of horse.... in all my life.
The facts are that i am on my notice to compulsory redundancy along with 21 B747 Flight Deck crew because an American carrier was illegally contracted to fly a British civil route by Air Partner to the MOD.All other MOD charters are open to worldwide competition.We have complained and been backed up by the DfT that on the grounds of reciprocity an American carrier doing the route is illegal.The USA refuse to allow any carrier but American TO FLY USA ROUTES,point proven.We want a level playing field so Easy,Ryanair and all the others can put them permanently under serious competition.
Had the Falklands route been purely military Omni would have it without complaint other than more British jobs lost to the lowest bidder.As the route is a civilian route open to the public a British carrier supported by our EU partners must do the route.The BALPA press release has been corrected to match the realistic situation.If British pilots are happy to snipe at us trying to save our jobs then i hope you have a conscience and are not faced with the mess the MOD has got us into.For the record we recognise the right of the MOD to charter the cheapest for purely military but we dispute the advantage of a DC10 over our B747-300 with 30 tonnes belly load and the range without having to offload pax or freight.Never mind the route expertise and comfort.How long before Omni gives up the route depends on our ministry officials.