While I'm not condoning Silversh*t's delivery, he or she has made some very valid points that anyone who is applying to airlines should take on board.
1. No union - granted, that is not the airlines issue, it's up to crew to organise that but it takes a very brave one to make that first step. I, for one, would NEVER AGAIN work for an airline without solid union representation.
2. No crew food - on a long haul airline!
3. Salary - £10 000ish basic with around £2.00 per hour flight pay. It's about the same as Zoom and I know I couldn't afford to live on it.
4. Back to back flights - unless you've done trans-atlantic back to back flights you have no idea how exhausting they are. BA crews do them out of LHR and there is a limit of one B2B per 28 days. Basically, it's 4 sectors over 6 days. BA provide a hotel room between sector 2 and 3. Does Silverjet? This is a safety issue, not just a case of BA crew being "spoiled".
5. Full day standby blocks - when are you supposed to rest? How can you be "fit" after sitting by the phone for 10 hours? Again it's a safety issue. Industry standard is 6-8 hours of standby.
6. Over complicated service - just read a few passenger reviews and they all seem to agree. Anyone who has worked on a 767 knows how much walking would be involved in delivering a full J class service by hand. I don't believe their 767s have a mid-galley, so this is just made worse, trying to reach those passengers in the middle of the aircraft.
7. Passenger profile - I could just imagine. It will only get worse with DXB. Not much better than a lot of Premium Economy or World Traveller Plus pax.
A few things about Silverjet that were not raised in his/her post but bothered me personally were:
1. The fact that you are required to include photos in your application, BEFORE being invited to an interview. Air NZ do this and it is in appropriate and bordering on illegal.
2. The "ladies only toilet" ad. The concept may be innovative but the ad was offensive to me. The "BA" was just immature but I could live with it.
3. The seat - read the passenger reviews and they all complain about the slant. It is not a "flat bed" and should not be sold as such. Granted it is an improvement on the "cradle seat" concept but it is really a niche between Premium Economy and International Business Class.
I have formed the opinion that their recruitment focus, as speculated earlier, is on those with little experience that can be moulded to the company specificiations. It's fair enough, I can see the reasons for it and I hope those who are accepted by Silverjet do enjoy their experience, however they should be aware of what exactly they are getting into and how it compares with the rest of the industry.