[QUOTE]JazzyK,
Are you suggesting that the union/association that represents all the pilots in BMI goes to the new employer and says "sorry but we would prefer you keep pilots 1, 2 and 3 and make pilots 4, 5 and 6 redundant instead because pilots 1, 2 and 3 have been with the company longer". If I was pilot 4, 5 or 6 I would be most upset. to say the least....
/QUOTE]
Well, with reference to my earlier post, given that there is an agreement in place, and an agreed mechanism for dealing with a redundancy situation - I would suggest that the above scenario should never have taken place. The bmi AFS is explicit (Part 1 sects.12 & 13) for the case of "reduction of fleet complement at base" and when "a pilot is required to change base at the behest of the company".
However, I suppose it might be suggested that the complete closure of a base doesn't necessarily fall into any of the above categories; I would be very sceptical of the notion that the number of outstation pilots + TRIs + Flt Ops Managers exactly equals the required headcount reduction for any slots that BA may have had to give up.
Historically within bmi any base closures has seen the affected pilots given the opportunity to relocate to LHR; if it was associated with a general reduction in pilot numbers, then the matrix (which includes a LIFO element based on company seniority) would be used to reduce that overall headcount.
So Jazzy K, with the above agreement and the historic way in which similar situations have been dealt with, what would you expect the representatives of the pilots to say to the new employer? The method that has been used goes against the current AFS, or put another way- the contract that pilots 4,5 & 6 knowingly signed up to, and the one that pilots 1,2 & 3 expected to protect them.
I don't want to see any bmi pilot out of a job, but if it has to happen then it should be done in accordance with existing agreements.
-No replies to my previous post re: past base closures in BA. Does anyone with a reasonably long memory know what happened then?
Anyone working for an airline that has a seniority list should be worried by the scenario being played out here.