Gents,
This will be my last post on this thread. Your emotional replies contain so little in terms of actual substance that I will not justify most of them with a response. Clearly, many of you carry a lot a guilt about how you have conducted yourselves in the past. As you should... However, my intentions were not to ruffle feathers, but to clarify why our pilot group is the sad state that it is today. I wish A scalers could accept their part in our failures. Not to be repetitive but the shortcomings of A scale leader- and follower-ship are off the charts and set the horrible precedence by which so many of our lesser employed colleagues follow today.
Kitsune, we (you guys) should have fought the B scale to preserve the A scale, not for those whom had already joined on B. Similarly, STP, we absolutely should be fighting the iCadet for our own sake right now, not for the iCadets!!! We should all be employed on the same terms now, then, and forever. Different terms divide us irreparably. Just notice how we refer to each other... A, B, C, F, etc.
Raven, you are right. We are all on the same team. We should treat each other like teammates and expect high standards of quality and excellence from each other. Part of that is accountability. I do not think most of you have taken any responsibility for what happened under your watch. That's unacceptable. Similarly, we are experiencing a leadership failure with respect to the iCadet program. We will be to blame for our own future degradation because of this. We are far too worried about various TUs and are missing the "gorilla" walking through the middle of the congo line.
Also, I never wrote that the NC was a close friend. I wrote that he is the only A scaler I have ever observed caring about those on lesser payscales. I'm sure there are others. Perhaps you, Raven, are one of them? If so, may I ask what you have done?
Oval, I disagree that this is a contract job. If we could unify as a pilot group, we would be treated as a collective. Since we don't, we get what we have now. In a sense, it is the old chicken and the egg argument. Which came first? They tried on dividing the group, and we did not rise to the occasion. So we continue to be treated as a fractured group. We are all to blame for this. Not Hong Kong labour law. That too is a weak excuse. But need I remind you where and when this all started. It is not personal, it's a fact. Sorry guys. I wish it weren't so.
To those of you who have been offended by my words, I apologize. Perhaps wrongly, I feel that industrial matters are like any other portion of our profession. As professionals, we should examine our mistakes, admit to them, and do what we can to correct them. I do not think A scalers have adequately done that. Many are in denial. Others are deflecting blame. Some just don't care.
OK, off the "soapbox". Fire away boys! Let's see if you can mix any substance with all your emotion...