We must all realise that the industry is going through a difficult patch at the moment. However, management have to realise that the key to an efficient organisation, that is respected and revered for its service, is to have a happy workforce. I draw a parallel to the military where it is well known that happy troops are efficient troops and happy troops will put up with all sorts of hardships and go that extra mile. Sadly I am not certain that all the present day troops are happy troops, but that is a different story altogether. In the world of civilian aviation a contented crew will indeed go the extra mile to help out the company when required. They will deliver that extra customer care and attention if they feel that they are being supported correctly by the management. Indeed I have been a part of such an organisation in days gone by. A discontented crew, however, are not likely to do be so responsive if they are unhappy with the company, and the management, and the unjust decisions that affect their contract.
My experience of the airline industry is that many of the “management” personnel are lacking in the required attributes required for such positions and in several cases have reached their status by who they know rather than what they know. In addition many do not have the basic management skills to carry out their jobs effectively. Indeed some I have been associated with do not seem to possess any common sense, which is a basic requirement of management. I can quote an example of my past when a new director came into our company from a much larger organisation where he had been part of the management team. His experience in that larger company had indeed been as a manager, but as a manager of an office and a computer, not as a manager of personnel. After some months, and following a downward spiral of crew morale, I approached the individual to discuss the issue. The incumbent was surprised that moral was diminishing fast and said that as he was happy with his job, he had assumed that everyone else was also happy! This is not a word of a lie. I politely informed him that he needed to leave his office and manage his personnel more effectively.
I am not a member of Virgin, but really hope that the management team wake up to the fact that they could irreparably damage a great airline with what seems like very ill conceived management decisions. Good luck to all the pilots in this fight – there are definitely times in one’s life when principles have to be applied and it seems that this is such a case. I hope you manage to sort out this issue without recourse to further action but if that is the way it has to be then united you should stand.