I gotta agree. Here we are talking about the possible retrenchment of pilots who were still in school when some of these incidents supposedly occurred, and people are willing to stick the knife into them because they happen to be members of big bad AIPA. Get a grip!
Mainline pilots are not expecting to enter
VB, or Tiger or even Q-Link. Jetstar however is a different kettle of fish. Qantas, Jetstar and AIPA pilots are signatories to an MOU. That is the difference. If I was a Judge trying to decide whether or not there was a connection between the airlines and the MOU was waved under my nose, it would be hard to conclude otherwise.
It is a crap document, however it exists and it is legal. Jetstar pilots are flying aircraft gifted to the airline from mainline. One day those aircraft are slated to return to mainline. The latest mainline seniority list was just published with a stack of Jetstar MOU slots on it.
There is a link between the two that cannot be denied. Therefore if mainline pilots are retrenched and not able to take up slots in Jetstar, I can only conclude that what an AIPA VP told me will be true. I don't want to get inflammatory, because I know this board has a wide readership, but lets us say that the gloves will be well and truly off.