If I have given the impression to anyone, especially WW pilots and other staff, that I consider holiday plans more important than their livelihoods, I apologise unreservedly. I was made redundant from a position I had held for almost 30 years in March 2009. This was less than a year after Mrs. FF underwent extensive spinal surgery and was told by the NHS she was considered unfit to return to her position as PA to a surgeon in one of Belfast's hospitals. She is now a home based medical transcriber working long hours when work is available, and earning only a fraction of her previous salary. I also work at home writing internet content and earning only a fraction of what I earned as a full time staff journalist. I did a Christmas stint on the tills in M and S to supplement our income. I've applied for job after job and received no reply in many cases. A hotel chain has interviewed me twice for a position as a cleaner but declined to offer me employment on either occasion.
We celebrated our silver wedding anniversary last week. We had planned to do this in Barbados, but the state of our finances meant the trip had to be cancelled last year. The generosity of relatives allowed us to spend three days in Lisbon and a week in the Algarve.
Now we're back, it looks as if my latest job interview has come to nothing, and we're seriously worried about how we're going to stay in our home. So yes I can fully sympathise and empathise with the bmi baby employees in their hour of great need. I hope their experience and professionalism will open doors to alternative employment within the airline industry, and they do not suffer the increasing levels of stress we have experienced during the past 36 months. The treatment they have received at the hands of their employers makes me very angry indeed.
Yes, I do feel sorry for people in Northern Ireland who took advantage of the low fares offered by WW to scrape together enough for a cheap week or 10 days in the sun. I can also empathise with them, because I know if we were in the same position we would not be able to afford the sky high fares being quoted by easyJet and Aer Lingus.
I also feel sorry for travellers who have booked to travel with WW from Birmingham and East Midlands during the summer. How can they guarantee these flights when staff will leave as soon as they find alternative employment?