I think many people saw this one coming. Afterall, hirings are slashed for 2009 due to the general slowdown... fair enough. But it is more than that, they are increasing our work level by any means available (other than effective rostering of course). Hence, they reduce pilot hirings more than required and make those pilots already here, do more work.
We are still receiving aircraft aren't we? Perhaps loads have decreased but we are still doing the flights, so why such a dramatic decrease in projected hirings? This abusive plan has been in the works for a while. Now they have the excuse they need.
It is a cover-up by management and staff in rostering. They cannot effectively manage their crew, so they make up rules that basically allow them to do whatever they want. Hell, I've already seen it in my schedule for the last 3 months. AD days in my top bid month, that turned into Reserve days, that turned into 2 crappy back of the clock turns. All these changes appeared on my roster even before the month began!
Crewing does as it pleases now. There is no longer any recourse for pilots since they have us over a barrel. Our one and only recourse of ASR's does not generally apply to rostering practices such as AD days or max days off.
There is no logic to these new rules if management is being truthful about the purpose. If we are supposedly 'fat' on pilots (no BMI pun intended), then why further restrict our schedules? Instead of offering something like additional leave slots, or leave without pay, they are seeking greater flexibility by ignoring the normal rules. Don't for a minute think that if the worldwide economies get straightened out, we will return to sane rostering practices. Every pilot is stuck with these new rules for the rest of their career at EK.
The incompetence of crewing/rostering is the impetus behind these rules changes. How much easier is it for them to make up rosters, fill pilot seats and manually insert flights when there are no restrictions placed on them? They simply do not consider the adverse affect this will have on us; they don't care nor understand these factors.
Our bidding system has never worked at EK, even though it works great at other airlines. Why is that? Manual insertions! Solution (from an incompetent rostering department point of view)... get rid of all restrictions that limit manual insertions, roster changes and days off for pilots. The next 6 months are going to be tough on pilots, especially those who use to cherish and take advantage of days off. I do not foresee anything which will cause management to reconsider this latest insanity.
A pilot has to be desparate to consider EK now.