@No RYR for me
Sounds like one of the militants, there are always people who will feel hard done by any deal.
Some martinair guys felt they deserved a place on the KLM seniority list because KLM got 3 non-profitable pax routes. They did forget that KLM lost 3 full-freighters and gained quite a bit uncertainty. There were actually quite a few KLM pilots who were of the opinion KLM should just let MAC go bust and fire the lot. Especially after MAC got bailed out by KLM (and mac militants will say that KLM brought mac in this position) and then mac pilots started demanding a place on the KLM seniority list while they should be happy they have a job to start off with!
I'm not saying the deal was good for everybody, but I do think that it was the most fair. Demanding horizontal integration into the seniority list would have been very messy, also with regards to Transavia who have been a full KLM daughter much longer and would also demand that (as I know first hand as my girlfriend is a FO for Transavia). I can't name one seniority list integration that has worked... Only thing I've seen is more divide..
In the end, everybody kept their salary and the martinair guys got a much better pension deal. In these uncertain times I think that is worth quite a lot. I also think the company didn't want a drawn out fight between 2 pilot groups, damages profitability.
In respect to the VNV being an all KLM club, there are some interesting points to take into consideration.
- Not one person of the martinair ledenraad voted against, with the KLM it was 2 against, the ledenraad represents the members, so why did everyone in MAC vote for the deal?
- Every ledenraad can vote against this deal, which means that if you don't agree you vote against. The risk you take is that you might get a worse deal second time around, and I think that is what the martinair guys thought.
- The bestuur is made up of KLM, Martinair and Transavia pilots, it is electable every 2 years and everyone may put forward their own bestuur, so if some group want to break through the KLM-ony stigma why don't they put forward an alternative.
The 3 major airlines (KLM, Transavia and Martinair) in the Netherlands have one of the best terms and endearments on the planet, with massive work protection and very well funded pensions scemes. I think this is largely due to having 1 strong union representing all. Hopefully Arkefly (the next up and coming airline in the netherlands) will get in a similar position soon.
I have to admit it doesn't always work for everyone. The KLMuK and KLC integrations showed that, but every once in a while they do get the most out of it for the most amount of people and I think this was one of these moments.
Somebody, somewhere will always be pissed off. I also don't fully agree with some parts of the deal, and will watch with interest how it plays out, but I did vote for the deal as I think it is best in the long run, for the pilots and for maintaining profitability in the company.