It never ceases to amaze me that there is a continual stream of 'professional pilots' who are prepared to do anything to enter an industry which has been going down the tubes for so long. What deluded ideas do they have of their futures - the prospect of thirty five years of ever reducing terms and conditions allied to increasing workloads in an evermore automated workplace would fill me with dread !
The industry is awash with young wannabee pilots with no experience whose licence has been paid for by wealthy parents; some ( not all ) seem to think they have a god given right to £50k in the rhs seat of a widebody jet and all the crumpet they can attract. And yes, the pressure is not just at the bottom end - all significant carriers are acutely aware that they have vastly overpaid senior pilots, usually with heavy training emoluments, who they would love to get rid of but are unable to do so due to legislation. Salary and allowance levels gained over many years are an aberration to company management whose bonus payments depend upon reduced expenditure. So the pressure is on for unions to make a stand against such trends but the effects of recession give the Airlines a huge trump card in any negotiations for the forseeable future.