A little bird just told me that Joe has been re-employed this arvo. That's the strong rumour.
If it is true, and I hope it is, then this is a win not just for Joe, but for Australian aviation.
Why ? Well, it is a first step towards safety inprovement in Australia. Most in the industry are accutely aware of the downturn of safety standards in Australia over the past decade. In regards to Joe's speaking out it may have been his voice spreading the message but in effect he spoke on behalf of thousands within the Australian aviation community who have in their own way been preaching their safety concerns but only for those voices to fall on deaf ears. If you want to call yourselves executives or CEO's then start listening to your frontline people. Form the working groups, meet with those who get their hands dirty and listen to the truth. Stop viewing any person under senior management level as a liability and start valuing everybody as an assett.
Without being specific to any particular country ( you be the judge),
Airline CEO's pay attention - The vast majority of you are fed complete and utter false, ficticious and distorted facts by your senior management. Senior managers know that if they actually told you the truth they would likely be marched out the door and as CEO your hair would turn white overnight if you knew some of the real and actual facts about what is happenning in your organisation. When people speak out to the point that they lose their jobs you need to start thinking about the big picture. Is the guy speaking out a complete nutter ? Or are his factual concerns so scary that he would put his job on the line or even lose it in a desperate ditched attempt to prevent a major tragedy ? It just may be a 'Joe' who actually saves your organisation from one day suffering a tragedy, and it may be a 'Joe' who saves the organisation from becoming part of aviation history.
CEO's remember - the people like Joe and the Sunstate engineers are out there in the thousands, seeing, doing, acting every day of their lives, and they see the things that you simply do not see, they know the things that your senior managers try very hard to conceal from you every day, and usually quite successfully. If you actually knew how much is hidden from you on a daily basis you would hide your face in embarressment. Instead of sacking those who are speaking out in an effort to create a safer environment which translates to airline longevity start listening to their messages. Thousands of concerned aviators cannot all be wrong, do the maths ?
Safety is not achieved by huge ego's, arrogance, destroying your wokforce or by sacking those trying to actually help you even when it flies in the face of what you actually want to hear.
Do I personally know Joe ? Absolutely not. Never met the guy and never heard of him until the media headlines hit the newstand.
Do I personally know the Sunstate engineers currently under suspension ? No, I do not know any of them.
Do I support these people ? Damn straight. It is not for me to judge whether they 'obeyed company policy', or whether they 'followed the correct channels' to air their grievences, but 'desperate times deserve desperate measures', and just maybe this is the reason behind their actions.
It is time for all of us in this industry in one way or another to 'eat the proverbial s#it sandwich' and move forward.
What is done is done, the ball is moving, how the game is played out is yet to be determined. I call on Bruce to officially reinstate Joe (if this has not officially occurred), and I call on Alan to personally take a hand in reinstating the Sunstate engineers. The spotlight is on you CEO's and it is not going away in a hurry. Reinstate these men, talk to them personally and work with them personally, listen to them, and as a group
fix the problems. Do it privately, and consider this - no media, no union, no mediator and no bulls#it. Bury the issue and work together to achieve safety. If not, and I have said it before, the clock is ticking and a major accident is inevitable, and as a CEO and the 'accountable person', do you want your legacy and reputation cannonised in that sort of historical event ??