Nudger
You may well recall the talks about talks and the AOA stance late last year.
There was a publicly stated position to put the 49er issue to one side to try and move forward. The reality is the 49er issue has always been front and centre and the major sticking point in all the jousting that has gone on over the past 13 months.
Without settling this issue nothing moves forward, so let's get real.
I repeat again my strongly held view that the AOA has seriously insulted the intelligence of not just Hughes-Hallett, Turnbull, Chen, Tyler, Barley and Rhodes but also Sir Adrian Swire, who, at the end of the day, still calls the shots. Cathay Pacific is his baby and he feels that the pilot body has mutinied. One may question the way management has tried to take away that which they readily gave but it is still their train set.
Progress can only be made by acknowledging this fact, apologising and moving on.
I personally think the way the 49 plus were dealt with was childish and vindictive but in order for the AOA to be an advocate it must acknowledge the primacy of owners and play to their benevolence rather than their pettiness.
The current AOA leadership has put themselves in a position that they cannot take this course of action.
Pride has its price and at the moment it is a price management and the shareholders can afford.