Tailscrape,
Whoah hold on!!! I was merely replying to your comment:
"If CTC were so bad for the industry, would the Britannia BALPA Company Council allow these cadets to join??????????? After all, Britannia CC is perhaps the strongets in the business...."
Yes we have strong representation in BALPA but this is largely due to the fact that for the past few years the CC has not taken a confrontational approach to the management and have elected to work with them, and the results have been encouraging. Not all would agree but I am happy. The CC cannot tell the company who to hire and who not to but if they could you can be sure that CTC cadets would never join Britannia.
I am not saying that they are not qualified or good enough, not at all. You are right they have passed rigorous tests etc (although even so only 6 out of 13 passed Britannia's recruitment). But at the end of the day they work for CTC not Britannia and that is where the problem lies. You were lucky that you were taken on after six months with JMC. I'm pleased for you. However, what we are all concerned about is that the charter airlines might start hiring pilots on contracts for the summer and laying off in the winter. That isn't good for any pilots but that is what the beancounters would love to do. Britannia Second Officers are not paid as badly as you say especially if you consider that they are part of the final salary pension scheme from day one, not six months down the line (and who knows six months later they may have decided to close the scheme to new entrants and then you've REALLY lost out huge).
Furthermore, what is probably the thing that bothers me the most is the fact that the pilots who were in the holding pool have been "bumped" for these CTC cadets and I just think that that is plain wrong. Many of these people are still waiting in the wings for a job and are ready to start in a moment's notice. Some are even working for Britannia as cabin crew at the moment. There is no financial or time advantage for Britannia just because the CTC people have a type rating because they will still have to do the Britannia course as that is a CAA requirement. The only reason that CTC cadets were chosen over the people in the hold pool (some of whom left other flying jobs keep in mind) is that they are expendable - if another industry crisis happens they can be rid of easily. Maybe you like that but it doesn't sit well with me.
Lazlo