Teresa and TankEngine, thanks, I thought it used to be 55 or 58. I also recall from my short time, that some guys used to leave early to go to SQ, or to Cathay, with the plan to "retire in ten years with a million bucks in the provident fund".
Shark Patrol, you asked why do I come on to these forums? Firstly I am an Australian living overseas, so it is nice to keep up with what is happening 'back home'. I am not 'management', we just spend our pennies wisely. I yearn to return to Australia, to settle in a country town, listen to the chorus of birds welcome each day, and to feel the warm Australian sun.
I dislike the 'bar room' nature of the Oz forums, where you are praised if you agree with 'the mob' and vigourously shouted down if you query the 'party line'.
I feel passionately that 'the mob' here are failing to think ahead, like good pilots should. Standing around and saying 'replace the CEO', 'remove the Board', 'the spokeperson lies' etc does not solve the current problem. What if the figures QF is saying are correct? Nobody, and it would appear not even the Union, seems to have a strategy. You need to be suggesting alternatives, just denying what QF is saying will not make it go away.
I really hope that the Union is sitting down with FWA and suggesting ways ahead, ways that you can be part of the solution, not as part of the problem. Either way, you can bet QF is sitting down, laying out its plans, making its case. This is the last chance. In two weeks Fair Work Australia may implement the QF future, that you dread.