Why the secret ?

[FlyingOfficerKite]

This increasingly common move towards seasonal working must be counter-productive and a blight on the industry.

Few 'middle of the road' professionals want seasonal working and it is not the norm in other industries.

I appreciate that the airline industry is one on its own in some respects regarding working practices, but the majority of people are not accustomed to irregular working hours AND irregular periods of work. It is one thing working 'part-time' but quite another working on a seasonal basis - and with the insecurity of 'contract' employment.

If salaries were comparable for 'seasonal' as opposed to 'full-time' working then MAYBE fair enough. But to expect highly experienced pilots to work for half-pay make a career as an airline pilot unsustainable.

There will obviously be those (maybe older pilots) who appreciate this mode of working as there always has been, but provided the arrangement does not become de rigueur for individual airlines perhaps it will work.

The question I suppose is - is this a long-term strategy or just an opportunist advantage taken by certain airlines to mitigate costs in the recession. Or, yet again, an opportunity to introduce working practices which otherwise would not be accepted and is therefore the thin end of the wedge?

For pilots to enter the profession or an individual airline on the understanding that it is likely that seasonal working is, if not compulsory, a distinct possibility will not sit well with the majority of pilots.

I might have been amiable to part-time working, particularly as I got older and children left home, mortgage paid off etc, but not as a younger pilot trying to establish themselves with a mortgage, wife and family.

If pilots do not want the part-time, seasonal 'low-cost' airline lifestyle, but cannot achieve a position with other carriers for whatever reason, then there could be a lot of disappointed people in the longer term.

Maybe I'm wrong and this is not the way the majority of the industry will go and everyone will accept the working practices currently being introduced by the low cost carriers?

The majority of comments in respect of the recruiting drive of Jet2.com are 'It's not great, but better than the dole', rather than 'great, thanks for the job, this is obviously the way forward'!

What a state to be in.

KR

FOK