Interesting how people with no direct experience of VAA are prepared to comment on internal matters. As one of those employees (not a pilot) who was made redundant post 9/11, I could see no difference between our treatment and that of any other large company dealing with redundancies. The difference for the pilot work force was essentially a product of their Flight Deck committee's arrangements on their behalf..... and that, I suspect, was a no-win situation. LIFO was the basic principle and, while its application may have seemed a little odd in certain areas, it was never going to be any easier or more even-handed in EVERYONE's eyes.
For those not involved in the commercial aviation sphere, IT IS A VOLATILE EMPLOYMENT AREA. Always has been, always will be. A VERY large commercial operator employed one of their senior captain/managers for some three years together with the necessary administration set-up to examine the 'peaks and troughs' of the operation with a view to 'ironing them out'. Result? Zilch, Rien, Nada.
While VAA may well be Sir Richard's favourite 'toy', at the end of the day he is a business man. Having worked for both VAA and BA, both have inherent management problems but my previous 35 + years in the RAF prepared me well for that.
