Why you should ignore the stupid ban
For those considering taking a job with Cathay as an Second Officer, here are my thoughts:
NO S/Os were fired - so whose job are you taking? Since the 49ers were sacked more than 49 upgrades have occurred and more than 49 pilots have joined the company. You are not taking anyone’s job!
The company is adding more aeroplanes - that is what they are recruiting for. Before the 49ers were fired we worked 700 hours per year, now it is up to 900 hours. The company isn’t replacing these pilots - they don’t need to.
Whilst some ask that people do not join Cathay, they take upgrades (from S/O to F/O and F/O to Command) themselves. How can the AOA / IFALPA ask that you turn down a great career opportunity, while at the same time their members take promotion? One feeble excuse given is that if they didn’t take the promotion, Cathay would hire direct entry contract pilots, so to prevent this they must take the promotion (and the extra pay). The truth behind this is that they can only prevent the direct entry contract pilots by filling the positions themselves and they can only hope to prevent pilots from joining the company by intimidation and harassment. Experienced contract pilots would not tolerate intimidation by the union pilots.
The AOA could have had the majority of the 49ers back at work months ago, but refused this option in the (false) hope of getting all of the 49ers reemployed. This is NOT going to happen!
Each and every one of the 49ers were fired for a reason. The company know that legal challenges are likely (one day the AOA might even win a court case). The company was very careful with their selection. The AOA wants the members to believe that it was done ‘for no reason’ to scare the pilot body into believing it could be anyone of them next. Of course the company has not publicly stated reasons - it is much harder to challenge a loss of confidence, than say frequent sickness to get the roster they want.
The 49ers were fired for good reasons, but they were also fired to intimidate the pilot body. It has worked. Now the sickness levels are extremely low (and the rosters are stable - so who was to blame for the roster instability in the first place?), the flights run on time and the pilots can be worked to 900 hours per year.
The only ‘achievements’ of the AOA in the last year are: an increase in the workable hours from 700 to 900 hours, the loss of over 50 jobs and the fragmentation of the pilot body.
When the AOA say that they do not support the ‘scablist’ on their site, it is nothing but a lie. Everything that is posted on the cprune site is done under the control of the leadership. (a friend of mine was once asked if she minded having a posting removed, as it was not in line with AOA policy at the time) They are just trying to scare off new joiners, but don’t have the guts to admit to it.
If you are offered a job with Cathay TAKE IT! There are some dickless wonders who want you to believe that life will be unpleasant if you do...these scum are in the minority. They aren’t doing anything themselves ‘industrially’ that is at all effective. If you get any grief then I am sure the company will fully back you up. A few sackings will quickly sort out any trouble makers - after all, it worked last year.
New joiners will have my full support - after all, I have just taken a command.....