Good Lord, Beaver Eager, 20 weeks notice period! I am quite flabbergasted to read of this. What a nightmare scenario that would be for someone who has made up his/her mind to leave. In some circumstances, three months notice can seem like an eternity. Twenty weeks is over the top, I suggest.
Of course I can see why an inferior employer might wish to impose such an unfair and unreasonable contract term, but once again I am left to ponder just what it is that possesses pilots to bring them to agree such terms. We are most certainly our own worst enemies if we accept this sort of grave impost.
So what comes next? I guess it will be the 'bank guarantee' system imposed at SIA, where pilots effectively pay the employer to give them a job. I can see all the beancounters laughing at us again as they stash the wads in their banks. Come on guys, wake up to yourselves before it's too late. Like you do with drugs (hopefully), just say "NO". If enough do it, there will be no loss in the long term, and the world just might be a better place for we pilots.