Yes, Yes, Britney 4 years pay was an obvious typo, blah de blah, now corrected and clarified.
It doesn't dilute the essential point, in future there will be fewer aircraft, thus fewer pilots will be needed. Losing 20 senior Captains may work financially. But what is needed, as you well know is a complete restructuring of the airline so that it can survive. That means pilots have to take a hit too, not just the lower orders. You know there was an attempt by the pilots to swing a deal better than was offered to other staff.
I have genuine sympathy with the pilots. I'm a pilot myself. I felt really sorry for those cadets interviewed on the news who were seeing the dream slip away. A dose of the real world early in their lives. But that's the way it works. Mike O'Leary is waiting in the wings with Ireland's new national flag carrier, Ryanair. Don't let his dream come true! Your comment that Aer Lingus customers won't go to Ryanair is off beam, they've already gone. Nobody I know nowdays even considers EI for a flight. It's Ryanair first. Sure there's always the business customers. But Ryanair make a lot of money flying everyone else around.
[ 17 January 2002: Message edited by: Steepclimb ]</p>