This is the last comment I'm going to make on this public forum on this matter because the union MEC has asked members to refrain from further public comment (take note SB and Repoman).
The problems at Aer Lingus are not new.
Hey, you probably noticed that already, being perceptive and intelligent folks.
There have been at least two previous 'crises' in Aer Lingus during the last twenty years.
The intervening periods have usually been marked by extended episodes of 'belt tightening' followed by sudden, short lived, and poorly managed booms.
Those booms created profitable periods, which were succesively frittered away by a short sighted 'career civil servant' management who have always been out of their depth in the real world. And always at the beck and call of their politically appointed sugar daddies on the board of directors.
When the inevitable downturn happens the pilots have traditionally been the first group to be asked for sacrifices, and have repeatedly given the lead to the rest of the employees (soon becoming despised by them for that).
Year upon year these sacrifices have been demanded in the very same terms being heard yet again today...'If you don't do this the company will close'...'It's up to you to save the company'....'We need you to make these concessions to ensure survival'.
And each time the pilots have fallen for the same old crap and bailed out our inept management yet one more time, only to see them flush the effort down the toilet as they build new empires of pen pushers and overpaid hangers on in their own shoddy and unaccountable departments.
This is an airline with 6,500 employees and just 32 aircraft! And only 500 pilots! That's TWELVE employees for every pilot in the company!
The tail is wagging the dog!
So this time the knives are out and being employed on the pilot body without so much as a 'by your leave'. And they expect us to smile and say 'thank you, take another pound of flesh for good measure'.
The aim is not just to once more ensure the preservation of the incompetents who've yet again brought us to this pass....but to wreck the pilots association as a cohesive unit forever.
They could get what they want from us by negotiation...like they've always done before (saps that we are)...but to allow the destruction of our last bulwark against utter exploitation..IALPA...is Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecendented, and WILL NOT PASS.
[ 18 January 2002: Message edited by: Idunno ]</p>