Some many things to reply to and so little time.. (I actually try to have a life outside of aviation and all its politics but more on that later)
ELF:
Would you mind elaborating on your single word answer about why you think this case won't be in the courts for years to come?
Please explain how this will benefit every pilot in the country. The way I see things this will delay everyones advancement in the company by at least 2-4 yrs. That means 2-4 yrs longer at lower pay, worse schedules, perhaps even layoffs. All of which equates to a much poorer lifestyle. For the pilots waiting to come to Air Canada, it means at least 2-4 yrs longer before they have the opportunity to get hired. For the pilots waiting to start their career in aviation it means a much harder slog to find that first job. All for the oppportunity to work an extra 5 yrs before they retire? Sounds like a real win, win situation to me....
The argument that pilots are being hired older and therefore need the extra years of service to top up their pension doesn't wash. Alot of the older pilots that came in during the last hiring spree are already quite well set up for their retirement. Alot of us came from Jazz or other airlines and brought all our pension money from our time there. Add in RRSP investments and the pension, while nice to have, isn't the be all end all that it was when pilots were hired at age 22 and had nothing else to fall back on. I would much rather retire at 60 with my $70000.00 yr AC pension (might be shocking to some but you can live on the amount) and enjoy my life while I still can.
Raymond767:
Once again a long winded post full of legalese. I did notice one interesting comment in your post though. All through these proceedings your group has claimed that the junior pilots would not be negatively effected. I believe your original propoganda stated that the delay in advancement would only be 3-4 months. Now you are openly stating that "the impact on junior pilots is a given" What has changed?
As for your assertion that only about 50% of the pilots support
Earlier posts have mentioned several pilots that brought this same case before the courts in the past. Did you openly support them then? Did you bring all your legal expertise to the table and fight for them as hard as you are fighting now? Or did you just sit in the background and watch it unfold? After all if they had won their case, you might not have had the career you did.
To answer your question as to how I plan to manage this attack on my career, I fully support ACPA on this one. Enough said?
Macktheknife:
Spoken like a true senior pilot.... Believe me there is a much bigger percentage of pilots who are against this than you seem to believe.
And now back to my life OUTSIDE of flying!