The Real Slim Shady
Unexpected aggressive reply from what I was hoping was a pretty calmly put argument - even if you don't agree with it...
Personally I would far prefer to work for a different airline on less pay than to have to work for Ryanair. I haven't, however, met many people who can honestly say that if there were other jobs around they wouldn't leave flying for Ryanair a very long last. It's easy to have a rant at Ryanair pilots, and I have done so in the past, but if you would choose to be employed by Ryanair (or Brookfield's, whoever you are employed by) over many of the other UK carriers then you are not in a majority, form what I have gathered from knowing a not insignificant number of RYR flight crew. Personally, unless my airline gets 777's and starts flying to the Seychelles, I'm not going to say it's my perfect job. Then again who says it is (apart from the people who fly 777's to the Seychelles)?
My flight pay is taxed, and NI'd, by law however I have the security of a salary if I don't fly for some reason one month. But my job, like yours, is in no way secure. We don't work in a secure industry. From what I understand (and I may understand wrongly), the RYR freeze on UK bases that is on at the moment doesn't endear you position to security either. If you are a contract pilot, should anything happen, you could be replaced by someone else at the drop of a hat. If you are on a Ryanair contract, I believe that the Brookfields guys are actually on better T&C's (from talking to your company pilots) to you - so much for any reward for loyalty to your company. It's true that BA, bmi, Virgin and Thomson pilots aren't secure like most in most UK airlines, but they would most likely get some notice before they were told not to come to work again.
JayPee28bpr
Sorry, I agree with all your points, and I know that higher prices wouldn't necessarily lead to better T&C's, but my point was (in fact, has just become!) that the general public is leading the degradation of T&C's by expecting lower fares. As I said, you can't fly a 737 to Dublin for 6 quid a head, and while it wouldn't reverse it, it would certainly help to ease the squeeze! Your company loses money, they take it out on you...sure it sounds familiar to you too...