Situation Report:
Unfortunately the reality is that the best efforts of the team at the AIPA are having little effect on Qantas Corporate Management and regardless of the "tripe" posted continuously into the media by Qantas Corporate and (New Chairman Lounge) Australian journalists, the Pilots supporting industrial inertia is being lost and individuals such as Mr. Xenophon will have little chance to force a review of Qantas Corporate behavior into the future.
The time to act industrially is Now! However the catch is the aircraft need to stop rolling on tarmacs to heighten the awareness of the junior Pilots future and associated unions’ plight. The catch is that this plays directly into Joyce / Clifford and Oldmeadow's evil industrial Plans.
Alas as time moves on the lay of the environment industrially, at this time, is becoming a boring rhetoric stalemate, however the Qantas Corporate Egomaniacs are still edging towards their Industrial Objectives and those of us within the skirmish can only watch events unfold on a daily basis with little to zero industrial proactive action available. Ties, PA’s and PIA to date, although creating a little media attention and discussion are not working to stop the Qantas Corporate Industrial Mechanism from moving forward.
No one really seems to care about the share-price other than a cursory “Oh, it’s now down there now”! As a shareholder I am stunned by the Corporate Greed and detachment from reality of Clifford, Joyce and the Qantas Board, yet they seem untouchable by Individual and Commercial shareholders to date.
The full tragedy is only just unfolding industrially for the junior Qantas Mainline Long-Haul Pilots. The EBA LWOP provisions are at best draconian and leave little leverage for any possible future return after three years outside Qantas. Consider if you will the larger picture that and once the bottom 180 Pilots are ousted the next 180 will move too (if not earlier) as the bottom of the Qantas Pilot lists on a shrinking fleet and shrinking route base is not the place to be in Airline Aviation.
This will save Qantas millions $$ in potential payouts as the Pilots skip the industrial leverage for retrenchment payments and packages and move early to the New opportunities throughout World -Wide Airline Aviation employment.
The next mammoth cost to Qantas Mainline Long-Haul will be when Pilots begin "bumping" Pilots through Fleet Shrinkage and through the Pilots EBA Seniority system adding to the costs of the Mainline Long-Haul operation and creating the resentment that comes from such industrial mechanisms.
According to Joyce we are in the First phase of this restructuring of Mainline Long-Haul Qantas, the Second Phase given the programmed Five Hour transits in BKK for a BA flight to London will not be far away!
Some 55 year old Captains are hedging their bets that they will make 60 years of age prior to the total collapse of Mainline Long-Haul. The best bet is about Five-Years. Some 45 year old Captains see the future as a "shot duck" with the slow bleed of Mainline-Long-Haul operations and no relevant future as they will be on the wrong side of the employment curve if they do not move now as Captains!
There is likely to be left a small International entity of A380’s and at best some B-744-400ER’s that is the shell for the Qantas Corporate Headquarters overseeing multiple cellular Jetstar Operations across the globe and giving Qantas Corporate Accountants the Qantas Board a greedy free-ride into the future.
Alas, the AIPA team need a revelation, be it Political, Industrial or an Australian Public uprising and they need it right-now!
I pray they have the ultimate solution (and yet to be released) otherwise time has just about run out for the Pilots in this Industrial battle.
The loss of a future by our young Professional Aviators is inexcusable as a trade-off to Asia and Corporate Greed the further unpalatable tragedy is that Australians are now losing their Aviation heritage, Flag Carrier and Aviation icon as well!