Why should the management ever offer a permanent contract to any pilot ever again?
It is not in their interest (quite the opposite) and there seems to be nothing to stop them. If anything, the pace of complete transition to contract pilots seems to be increasing - both at the top and the bottom. The pilots I speak to regard it as an inevitability, and are simply hopeful that they can hang on to their Ts and Cs until retirement. They are wrong.
Every day we "reengage" another contract pilot arrives thus diluting an already weak workforce. If I was management the very last thing on my agenda would be a return to permanent contracts. I would, of course, be telling the pilots otherwise. In fact, I would probably promote USay to add to the smoke and confusion.