With the reqruitment excitement and energy experienced over 18 months ago it caught managers across Qantas, Virgin, Rex, QantasLink and many other airlines in the emotion and off target when things went south.
These companies have employed people so freely, scraping the bottom of the barrel in some cases last year, going overseas to look for people on 457 visas. So much for looking after our own back yard.
These companies should be encouraged to have a moral obligation and responsibility to their employees. Whilst companies should have flexibility to continue to be successful in a highly competitive industry on a global scale, the expenses associated with pilot employment would be significantly considered in a company such as Qantas for the long term benefit.
The economy will swing around. At this stage, Qantas management are looking at opportunities to cut costs out of the business to make it a stronger and more competive industry leader when the economy lifts again. It would be disappointing to see the pilot group, under pressure of this sought, be forced to accept long term depreciation to employment packages, just to fix this short term overcarriage of pilots....which was managements fault in the first place! From a managers point of view, I would be trying to screw out all the dead wood. One area is to cut costs through employment packages. Just remember, all pilots in Qantas are affected by this, from the top of the seniority list to the bottom and even those yet to be employed. Don't be fooled!
