For the pilots, some of whom earn close to $500,000
That's an interesting figure. I wonder where they got that from? Management perhaps?
Both the pilots and engineers have lobbied strongly for job security and no one denies the desirability of that goal, but in 1997 Sir Rod Eddington, then chief executive of Ansett, warned that there is no such thing in this industry any more.
There is now virtually no job security in any industry and the airline industry is the most volatile, the one most exposed to global labour markets and wage levels and the tide of liberalisation, which is more like a tsunami. (my emphasis).
If this is realy true & it is looking more & more like it is, we as a group are going to have to address the whole issue of seniority. Because seniority & the resultant loss of 'portability of skills', make lack of job security a career killer.
The ability to move without continually going back to square one is only going to became more & more essential if one is to have a career in aviation, rather than just a job. This is because movement between employers is becoming something that is forced upon more & more pilots, rather than being a matter of choice.
It is also fast becoming imperative to have something to fall back on before entering the aviation industry, because it is now highly likely that a pilot will need a skill outside of aviation at least once in his or her working life.