So the conclusion if I may?
We have:
1.) A high supply/low demand situation which is forever increasing in the favour of airlines due to flight schools* flooding the market with pilots and brainwashed kids not understanding the dire consequences of a £130k of debt in the face of 6 month on, 6 off contracts, no fixed base or income.
*On closer inspection we find that the big flight schools have much bigger connections to the airlines than it may seem with former airline training chiefs either running them or having significant others profiting from the deal. Why is this not fair? Because in the interests of fair competition it is bad news, and results in the price and policy fixing of pilot training, recruitment and compensation.
2.) A capitalist culture which is all about lining the pockets of a few rich men and denies the modern employee basic rights to job security.
3.) A regulating body which does not get involved with employment issues even though lack of job security is a massive contributing factor to stress and safety.
4.) A union which has left it far too late and at some point in the past had it's senior members actually profit (in rank and pay) from the situation we have today.
5.) A tax authority which is not able to do anything about a major British employer which is, on a perpetual basis, employing pilots (contractually exclusively tied to them) for a duration of 2 or 3 years even though it's full-time employment in disguise. Doing away with them then hiring more!
6.) A national law which prohibits permanent employees from participating in industrial action for the rights of contractor workers (even though the permanent ones could plead on grounds of safety)
The root cause of all this is the flight school/airline orchestrated brainwashing of the next generation that ultimately results in an oversupply of pilots. The oversupply is tipping the balance of scales away from current pilots. It provides the foundations for the abuse pilots suffer today and the worsening of Ts and Cs. Therefore, we must find a way of regulating the supply however daft that might seem.
Just think….if tomorrow a privately run train driving school was launched and offered train type ratings with the promise of 6 month (half pay) contracts, all thanks to the fact that the rail company’s boss is best friends with train TRTO boss, what would Bob Crowe’s reaction be? I’m pretty certain he would succeed in launching some pretty big industrial action all in the name of SAFETY.
As a trusted professional group of employees we would not be ignored if we had a safety argument. Often making some noise is more than enough to get the right attention. It takes one self-invented body or lobbying group to get the ball rolling.
Last edited by Superpilot; 24th Sep 2012 at 16:04.