I have no doubt that the 'enforced leave' will be taken from the Nwide pilots leave time. This after being told via the usual memo that 'no leave applications over December and January will be approved.' Typical Nationwide HR...
Anyway, a brief consultation with my usual sources shows absolutely no 'requests' to depart from the MEL, and if the AMO is doing anything dodgy, the pilots don't know about it. The engineers are generally overworked as well.
Frankly, to me it smacks of the whole Nwide management culture - pare everything down to the bone (the marrow more likely), then expect people (pilots, cabin crew, and engineers) to just 'make a plan' on the day, this DESPITE managements absolutely idiotic strategies (Worldspan, BOB, truly crap HR and roster policies, fighting recognition of a union, inability to listen, failure to consult with ANYBODY prior to implementing anything, poor training of staff, the list goes on and on and on.....)
They (management) reap what they sow - it's just a pity that the people who will be the most affected are the people who made it work on a daily basis up till now. The crew have my respect - nobody flies a dodgy aircraft on purpose, and they are truly the last defenders of safety at Nationwide.