Just in the interests of a bit of balance, from one who presently works there;
The new aircraft come from Atlas, and the operating costs are passed on to the customer. GSS is an ACMI operation.
Piss off the boss in any airline or any company and you are going to find that your prospects fall short of those who have kept thir heads down.
Those who have been denied commands, and they are only a handful, are in general below average performers. There are or have been a couple of exceptions but they are or were individuals who could be best described as their own worst enemies. One has left and I wish him the very best in his new position. I would further advise that he wind his neck in and keep Schtum in his own best interest. The other individual will get another shot as the person so reviled by Munchkin is retiring shortly. At 65 a -8 conversion will be of little value to either him or the company.
The Secondee arrangement is a disgrace but it is made perfectly clear to anyone who is offered a position. If you can't cope with it, don't join.
Positioning in economy only happens when the flights are full and really only affects a couple of routes. Yes it is a pain in the butt but not a weekly event. I have had to do it once in the last 18 months and I could have happily strangled someone but I lived to fight another day. Should it be changed? Definitely. Will it be changed? Not in my lifetime. The much reviled SM is trying to have things improved as are BALPA but the fact of the matter is that GSS operating crew rank below junior BA cabin crew and retirees on golfing jollies. The day it all gets too much I shall retire. Assuming that they day I cannot mount the ladder to the upper deck does not arrive first.
Company investigator , if you have any documentary proof that sim grades are being fiddled, please pass it on to BALPA. I have often wondered why Captains score 1 when an FO gets a 2 for a similar level of performance but such things are not confined to GSS. A TRE mate of mine alluded to the fact that companies are concerned that in the event of an incident, a Captain who has poorer grades would invite the attentions of the authorities so they tend to get away with more. FOs are being assessed as potential commanders and so are the focus of more critical attention.
There are one or two, generally domiciled on the European mainland, who are rotten timekeepers and who have tended to bunk off when it suits putting all the pressure on the standby crews.SM has indeed come crashing down on them and rightly so.
The pay is not the best, but things are starting to improve with the introduction of flight pay and there is an automatic annual increase up to pp12. Again it is not a secret, if the wages will not cover your outgoings, look somewhere else.
Please do not go away with the impression that GSS is full of no hopers who cannot find employment anywhere else. That is simply untrue and such an attitude would not get you very far in an interview scenario, as a couple of Secondee hopefuls found out and full marks to SM for not letting the door hit them in the arse on the way out.
So to sum up. GSS not perfect but compared to some out there, not the worst by a long chalk. A look through these forums would soon put you right on that score. Some supposed paradises, such as another 74 operator with red tails are much, much worse both in terms of lifestyle and command prospects, not to mention a vicious and military orientated training system. The majority of those I work and sit in far flung bars with are fairly content. Those that are not go elsewhere and we all move one place up the greasy pole as a result.
The whole industry is in a death spiral at the moment. GSS is small and under the radar and long may it remain so.I would rather be here than in an IT operator at the present, wondering ifvI will have job next month, better here with the time to sit by the pool typing this dribble than working 5 sector days with 20 minute turn arounds for some crazed LOCO or waiting 20 years for a command that may never happen because I never flew single seat FJ and don't roll up my left trouser leg. Horses for courses. It will do me until I fall over foaming or can no longer get my suitcase up the steps and I am not alone in this view.
All the best to all.