Next in line, and others of related disposition.
I can't speak for anyone else, but here is my position. The primary reason I stayed at CFE rather than move on as quickly as possible is because I wanted job security. Having been out of work in the last recession it was very obvious that sooner or later the industry would have another lean period (although the horrific nature of this one is not what I'd expected).
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't give a monkeys about bidding to LHR to 'steal' your big shiny long haul jet jobs. As far as I'm concerned a plane is a plane, and one concrete strip is the same as another. The CFE money was fine for me - we'ed been very successfully jacking it up anyway, and supply and demand was in our favour as a big bulge on the list finished their bonding periods.
People say - well, the only reason CFE made a profit is because CFE got paid more and charged less for everything in BA's internal market than EOG. So what? All this means is that our senior management were a damn sight cannier than BA's. Now Brad et al have gone, and we are left with your numpties.
But this is all academic. The hard fact is that CFE is gone. There is no way back. As such all we could do was accept what was offered. But what you guys just can not seem to grasp is that the root of the antipathy that myself and many others here at exCFE sometimes feel to some of our 'colleagues' in the rest of BA lies not in the terms and conditions of our contracts, but in their attitude to us. This attitude manifests itself everytime they put fingers to the keyboard.
And this attitude can be summarised as follows.
1.) Ex CFE Pilots are not worthy of being considered 'proper' BA pilots. We have snuck in through the back door and are clearly not up to standard.
2.) We should be grateful to accept whatever crumbs descend to us from on high.
3.) The ATR 'jobby' is like flying a cessna 150, clearly nobody would be flying it if they were any good.
3.) Our expectations could only ever have been to be RJ pilots.
4.) We all secretly yearn to be long haul pilots and will steal all the 'good' jobs if credited with any seniority.
5.) We contributed nothing in the way of jobs and slots and therefore do not deserve any seniority.
And most critically, although I would never claim that this applies to all pilots at BA (there are lone voices of reason here from time to time), the perception amongst us at CFE is that the modus operandi amongst the BA workforce is - "Who cares what is fair, who cares what the other guy thinks, look after number one first."
Thus don't be surprised if that attitude eventually rubs off on us!
If you think I'm being unfair, just consider the immediate assumption aired regarding the flight crew job losses, namely that it will be all borne by the ex-CFE workforce, and that seniority counts for more than length of service.
Let me rephrase the question from my earlier post - is it correct that people with many years of service to the BA group, who by and large have mortgages and young families to support, should be made redundant so that recently qualified cadets, or those that have chosen to change company, can be retrained onto our types to replace them?
The way I see it is that everyone is entitled to their point of view, but if anyone at BA's view is that I should lose my job simply because of the unrepresentative seniority number that I have, I would ask you to consider the following:
It is far more likely that you will need me to consider a pay cut, or part time work, in order to allow you to continue working, rather than vice versa.
I have little doubt, that given the track history, if the roles were reversed that BALPA and my BA 'colleagues' would sail me down the river in an instant.
Put simply, if pilots on BA fleets that are contracting want my support, you'd better stop acting as though I'm a third class citizen!
There may come a time in the very near future where you may be rather grateful for the existence of ATR and RJ 'Jobbies'. We are actually undercrewed at present, so there may be some shelter down here at LGW, and I'd welcome anyone who comes down with any degree of respect for our efforts over the years. But if you think I'm going to train you to replace me - think again.
CPB