Sorry, have been away for most of the week, hence late in replying.
I think there's a couple of bits being missed here. My comment wasn't that BALPA should "do something about it". My point is that as a group of professional pilots, we should be having input to FCL. Where BALPA come into it, from my pov, is that they are as near to an organised group of the professional pilots in the British Isles as I am aware of right now. This means that this group may be the best placed to try and get involved in influencing the CAA in respect of FCL. Equally, they may not be, but my counter to the questions of "what do you want BALPA to do about it" is "If not BALPA, who - or do you think that pilots should have no input to what goes into FCL - because the airlines and the FTOs most assuredly DO lobby the CAA in their interests."
As to what I personally think FCL should contain, well I can make a fairly compelling case in my own head for a minimum qualification level of at least 5 GCSEs A-C (let's face it, this profession can still offer 6 figure salaries if you get it right....name any other profession where someone with no qualifications can do that...). I can make a compelling argument to myself that FCL should include the requirement to have two Captains present on the flight deck at all times if the FO is not an "employee" of the company [and commensurately paid] - which would help kill Pay to fly schemes. I can make an argument for a centrally administered aptitude test which must be passed before professional training can be undertaken.
Any/All of you are free to agree or otherwise whether these are too hard/too soft/effective/ineffective, or that BALPA is the right or wrong vehicle to represent these views to the cAA, but the point is that currently the pilots have no input to the rules which govern our licences, yet the airlines and the FTOs DO and will petition the CAA for FCL that suits them. Now you may well say, but how do you get consensus - well you vote....but really how many of you would say having a base qualification level, for example could be anything other than good for the profession?
We as pilots working or not then wonder why our Ts and Cs go down the pan....
One last point, it seems to me - and I remain open to persuasion otherwise on this, that BALPA will only back a cause when a critical mass has been achieved, so asking student members to petition BALPA is totally out of the question.....you are talking thousands upon thousands all with different circumstances and ideas as to what can/should be done....If you can't gain consensus within one company, then there really is no hope for students or unemployed pilots to consolidate.