Uncle peter,
A a couple of points that hit me in this:
1. Why on earth would anyone need to employ outside consultants to find out why there is an aircrew retention problem? The reasons are blindingly obvious, even to those of us who left a few years ago. A couple of hours browsing the PPRuNE archives would give anyone with a modicum of common sense a good feel for the problem.
2. Who are the "managers" they consulted? Doesn't the Service have leaders and commanders any more - or are they now consigned to history in the era of "executives" and "agencies".
Had to laugh about the renewed efforts to improve communications though. What's the problem with these "managers" getting out of their "agencies" regularly and actually getting into crewrooms to have meaningful dialogue with the very people they want to retain? It's hardly bl**dy rocket science. Seem to remember saying the same thing about 20 years ago!