Assumptions galore
NC :
Thanks again for some thought provoking angles.
Millstream :
It is thinking like yours that worries me. As I see it, you are posting your personal assumptions. Those assumptions grow from fear of the unknown and often become widely held beliefs among our colleagues. Then we vote based on widely held assumptions. That is dangerous because there are many things we do not know. However there are some we do. Even if a particular jurisdiction mandated age 65, why would that negate the company's contractual requirement to pay by-pass ???? If we agree to something now that is watered down then you guarantee a bad deal. If we are patient we may still get a crap deal but maybe we get more. We must be very wary as there are many factors to consider. A rushed deal is not a good deal.
Age 65 retirement is already mandated in the UK, for UK employers.
It was not mandated for the "on shoring" because legally the pilots contracts remain in Hong Kong's jurisdiction. This raises more issues than just retirement, labour law to name one.
As NC pointed out agreeing to any compromise on by pass pay means we work for free for 2 of our three years after 65, some deal ! The current Captains retiring get all of that money. So if they have to extend on freighter or go to the sandpit , I am sorry but they are still less disadvantaged then everyone coming after us. Personally I will feel the pinch only slightly. However I do not think that I can accept something that dramatically affects my mates junior to me.
Also not sure the attrition is higher then 2% per year so not much of a factor when only doing 50-100 commands per year.
One of my thoughts as a way to help out junior crew (SO/JFO) is to DO AWAY with the JFO pay scale. in other words when you pass your 528 you start on FO year 1 like it used to be. The whole delaying QLs etc is just a way of keeping salaries down. You should be paid as an FO right away. The reason it should go is that it is not fairly applied. It depends on the checker you get. There is no way your salary should be decided by luck of the draw. If you are flying as an FO you should get paid as an FO.
Sorry but this issue has bothered me for 10 years !!!!
More ideas are out there !!
FG
Last edited by Five Green; 21st Mar 2008 at 22:06.