I'm not sure how this all got raised again, for those who have not seen it before, check the dates out on the last few posts; we have jumped from August 2001 to August 2002!!
I did update
here this is it for those who couldn't be bothered to click the link!;
Here we go again then?
Where did I leave you all last time? I think I was extolling the virtues of flying the 757 on line. Nothing has changed in that department. She’s still the beauty she always was. She hasn’t changed her colours, moved the goalposts or dropped me right in the clag!
Life however, has a strange way of biting back, just when you least expect it.
With the line training behind me I really started to enjoy the life as a First Officer flying holiday charter. I’d spent my time giving my all to my employer, delirious at being able to carry these passengers to and from their holiday destinations. I sat in the cruise going over the ‘recall’ items whilst the captain read the Daily Telegraph. I knew my technical knowledge was my weak point so I’d committed to brushing that up on the ‘long’ sectors.
Suzie and the boys had really started to appreciate the hard slogg that we’d all been through to get where we were. The mortgage was a huge stretch on an F/O’s salary, despite our substantial down-payment, but I knew that cometh the ATPL cometh the £10k pay rise, so we’d gambled in the rising market and found our current house which would save us moving again for a few years at least. Poor Harry deserved a bit of stability for once in his life having moved house three times in as many years. He was becoming a bit of a serial ‘play grouper’, never staying long enough to be recognised anywhere!
September was a big month for more than one reason. Harry started school at what can only be described as the ‘ideal’ primary school (within the state system). It’s two miles out of town in a little village called Marton which boasts the oldest timber framed church in England, down a country lane, surrounded by farmland with Friesians leaning over the fence chewing the cud in the playing field. He was smaller than just about every other child due to his illness when aged one year (all covered in previous postings!) and this was the first time that we’d really noticed it. He was also very shy and his natural character is to be unwilling to try anything that he perceives to not like………………………..…99% of which he subsequently finds to be ‘excellent’! School was no different. A number of days crying his eyes out into mine or Suzie’s leg at ‘departure’ became the norm for a week or two. Being the cold hearted father that I am I found it a lot easier to walk away mumbling “he’ll be fine”. As it transpired I was proved right and he was. He was very advanced academically but very restrained socially and school has proved the best thing for him.
The second reason for September proving to be a big month was for the reason that does not need stating in aviation circles. Like Kennedy being assassinated I will always remember where I was on September 11th 2001. New life was due to be delivered yet again in our household, for the last time I hasten to add! Suzie was pregnant with our third, due in march 2002 and things had not gone to plan. I recall a ppruner who’d said how lucky I always was, being in the right place at the right time (with regards to employment I guess), but it didn’t feel like it on September 11th.
Two months earlier in the pregnancy Suzie had gone for a routine scan and they had found an ‘abnormality’. It was called a Neucal Translucency, which is a thickening of the back of the neck in the foetus. They don’t know what causes it but know that it can lead to a number of very unpleasant problems. We were sent to Manchester for a scan on a more powerful machine and to take a biopsy of the placenta to see what was happening and try to pinpoint any problem. The appointment was booked for September 11th at 10am.
We arrived at the hospital having dropped Harry at school and enlisting the mother-in-law to take care of Edward, parked the car and wandered into reception. Suzie was very worried, as was I, but it’s different for a mother-to-be and nothing I could say would have really helped. We were seen and then sent to another department to have a quite painful sample of the placenta removed for chromosomal testing. As we walked round into that department we checked to see what all the nurses were watching, hands on mouths, on the television.
Some time earlier the first aircraft had smashed into the WTC. CNN was live on the BBC. All we could see was the burning tower, oh my God what a terrible tragedy I thought. Little did I know what effect the unfolding events would have on the lives of so many people.
Suzie was incredibly brave during the very nasty procedure and we walked out surprised to see people still crowded around the TV. Another quick glance and they were saying that a another aircraft had crashed into the second WTC tower. It still didn’t really register with me the impact that this was going to have. We drove home frightened about the possible events that the test results could be laying before us. Down's Syndrome was the most likely if a chromosomal disorder was found. If clear, no guarantees could be given with still an increased risk of abortion, genetic abnormalities including heart disorders and a host of other increased risks.
By the time we reached home Suzie had to run through the debrief with mom and I felt a bit left out so put on the TV and thought I would follow the breaking news.
My God, I could not believe the tragedy that was unfolding in front of my eyes. The first tower dropped as I watched intently, followed by the second, I was lost in this horrendous screenplay, my mind diverted from my own mini-drama.
It didn’t take long for the UK airlines to latch on to this downturn that the market was ‘bound’ to experience and for those who’d messed up prior to that date the perfect excuse was there. By October we had a new MD who was brought in to ‘save’ the airline from this make or break situation that threatened the industry itself. He was full of good rhetoric and impressed with his maiden speech about how tough times were ahead but he would steer us and save us with his ruthlessness.
Within a week I found myself on a shortlist for redundancy. Costs needed to be cut and I was one of those costs. It was a kick in the teeth that I didn’t need right then.
Negotiations started through Balpa and the statutory 90 days began on 2nd November. Towards the end of October I was frantically trying to find someone who would provide me with payment protection insurance for the mortgage. At the time we decided we just couldn’t afford it, but now we just couldn’t afford not to have it. A broker tried but found that the companies were cherry picking and not touching anyone in the aviation industry. A colleague put me on to another broker who secured me a deal starting on Nov 1st with a 90 day ‘no cover’ period. Phew.
Christmas approached and we were determined to enjoy it, being the first in sunny Congleton, but the axe over my head left me always thinking about other things. My first revalidation in the sim came around very quickly and I took a good few days out to put in the required work to achieve a decent grade. I flew the profiles well and got the required ticks. My weakness was not being forceful enough with my captain when he deviated from the required STAR. Lesson learned.
New year came and went and my winter roster showed a sad lack of flying – 3 trips in December and 3 in January. Apart from the fact that I could do with the hours this type of roster creates added stresses at home. I always seem to be under her feet, I can’t afford to join a gym or anything else, I’ve painted everything that moves at home (and plenty that doesn’t) and spent far too many hours checking the latest negotiation position via the Balpa forum and Pprune.
As we stand today I have a one-on-one with my base captain this afternoon – another step in the legal process and I expect my redundancy notice in the post imminently. I still can’t see the justification for my redundancy, especially on a cost basis when you take into account relocation costs and type rating costs (all those to be laid off are 757 rated and those at the closing bases who are more senior are A320 rated), but hey, no one said life would be easy……………. don’t I just know it.
I just want to fly, professionally, with a determination to succeed and do the job as best I can. I don’t want to be involved in all the politics, but unfortunately it comes with the territory so the cv’s are out and I’m looking for a carrier who’ll just give me an easy time whilst I give them exactly what they want.
It doesn’t get any easier Wanabees. Good luck.
PP
which brings things slightly more up to date, but things have moved on
considerably since then also, as Tailscrape alludes to. All I can say is watch this space..........
Thanks again for your replies, I'm glad the story has helped encourage many of you to 'keep on digging' once you've appeared to hit rock bottom!
PP