I really can’t believe this…a few hours ago Woomera told us that we can’t go on too much about 198* for a lot of reasons that I sort of understand. Fair enough. Not my bulletin board and I am sure that anyone wanting to know the truth about 198* can find out without some of us making undisciplined posts here for all to see. So we accept some limitations.
I recall that as I approached Christmas in that year I was unemployed, nearing 40 with a good assortment of young children feeling the weight on my shoulders of the decision I had made to stick with the secret vote I had cast (and my friends). This year, after a lot of hard yards, a lot of time on the ground, the kids are older, the bride still loves me and I fly the best Boeing ever made by far. So the 13 years have been good, all in all.
But this anti-female, anti-low hour pilot stuff bugs me. A lot. I was lucky enough to score my single stripe as an F27 F/O at under 20 and under 500 hours. That was then. And without a strong, democratic pilots organization behind me I would never, ever, ever have got a command many years later. I would never have had “the right stuff”.
If a fast growing airline like Virgin chooses to hire a mix of people, old, young, blonde, otherwise etc and not necessarily include everyone who, by their own admission should be hired, then so what? If Branson and JR had never started up the show there’d be no jobs at all and you’d all be sweating blood on the democratic, transparent and unbiased QF recruiting system!
As a result of 198* I have spent much of the last 13 years flogging around Europe and Asia with F/Os probably much less suited to the job than the young lady in question. She will earn her next stripes in an environment much less cosseted than that at QF and will, I’ll bet, be a bl**dy good captain in a few years. Our first ever woman jet pilot has been an asset to KLM for years now and yet she wasn’t good enough for the post 198* Ansett. Well I guess time has shown whose recruiting practices were best. And Virgin has simply followed on and chosen who it wants rather than those who, as in 198*, felt that the world owed them a job.
Good luck to you Miss F/O who ever you are. I’m sorry Woomera if this has upset things. But in my little world all pilots get a fair go even if they’re young and less masculine than some.
Elektra.