What has been written about AAI is in basic terms right. They are loosing pilots, a fact that will become a very real problem for AAI in the coming months.
Nobody is to blame except the management itself, because they keep their crews working the longest known periods in the business and for very low salary to say at least. Abra comments about “golden balls contract” is both right and wrong. There is a group of people, not all icelanders though, that AA has kept as they need to secure themselves a minimum number of crews at all time. Those (better paid) pilots are make up the base of crews that AA wants to have available long term, sor all year round projects.But there are many icelanders with AAI today that dont work under that “golden balls” contract. In fact, if anything those pilots (most ex-icelandicair) work on ACE lowest scale pay and to top things have to face the most strict tax environment in the world. But for many others I think that ACE deal, given some changes in terms and conditions, could be made to work for us. But surely it must change. Othervise people will just give up and leave.
Air Atlanta has grown immensely. Its a lively work place. The biggest problem is still the same it was 10 years ago. They make good firefighters (dealing with occuring problems on day to day basis). But what needs to happen is preventing those fires (problems) to break out in the first place. One of the first things they seriously need not only to consider but actually DO, is to work out better working conditions for their employees. Should that happen, not only would AA not run into problems like they are doing now but AA would actually be a good place to work. Benefit to both.
