We're still awaiting the outcome of the tribunal hearing of course but, with the best will in the world, the long-term prospects of both appellants can't be very bright.
One of the most poignant aspects of the whole affair is how these two men - who, just hours earlier, had been in secure, well-paid, and probably pensionable jobs, with every expectation of seeing their careers through to retirement - suddenly both found themselves out on the cobbles.
Rewind time to the fateful day. That morning neither of them would have dreamt for a moment that this routine flight would be their last. The hours of study, all those exams and medicals and check-rides, the licences, and the honing of their skills over the years, were all about to be rendered useless.
The Mail reported that
" Since his sacking, Captain Bird has not found any work despite applying to be an estate agent and work at a tile factory. Despite his flying skills, he said his future may be as a handyman."
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the affair, surely most pilots will feel a twinge of sympathy for the predicament in which both men now find themselves.