When this is all said and done and the pages of history have gathered the dusts of time, who will remember what we did or achieved?
It certainly won't be the general public. Whilst they may cast a disapproving eye towards the callous and calculated actions of the select few, they remain opiated by the market that controls them. Cheap fares and a good safety record soothes and lulls the masses.
It certainly won't be the politicians who can see only as far as the next election and are too busy pandering to the bleatings of vocal minorities and big business to care about such trivial matters as air safety and the loss of local expertise and industry.
Will it be the unions who seem unable put aside biases and personal agenda's to work together and present a united front? Or will this battle be too painful a reminder of their impotence and discord?
No..
The one's who will remember will be us my friends; the engineers. The guys and girls who sweated it out through the height of Australian summers and froze our bums off through the chilliest of winters. The people who were out there at 2am changing engines with the rain blowing sideways; our fingers so numb we could barely grip our spanners.
It will be those guys who endured the same tasks for days on end as they slowly disassembled and reassembled aircraft undergoing heavy maintenance checks; perfecting their craft so as to achieve benchmark turn-times.
It will be those who fought deadlines and nil stock situations, strategy maps and LEAN processes to try and get the aircraft to serviceability and meet schedule.
It will be the one's who overhauled engines ensuring that IFSD rates were the lowest in the world and who devised processes and repair schemes that even the manufacturers would adopt.
It will be all those who missed out on spending quality time and celebrating significant moments with their friends and family.
In short it will be us.. We will remember when no-one else does.