jedy
A good switch ? yes definitely. The events of a couple of weeks ago (the "taking it to the wire" strike threat ) have shown the value of Union representation, I hope all in Ryanair & the RPG have taken note.
For sure , particularly as it is only a 1 year deal, NAS wil "try it on " again in 1 years time. At the moment we have 660/680 ? "core" pilots & around 300? contractors, in 1 years time the proportion will be different, and NAS may feel a little braver to take it to the wire.
Of course, by then, a certain proportion of contractors should be "permanently employed" & hopefully we are going to learn the lessons from the Ryanair model & have all the European Pilot Unions communicating through the ECA , so that we remain a United Group (well, I can dream
) Another factor NAS should bear in mind, many of our Contractors are ex Ryanair, and have come here to escape the constant devaluing/ "adjusting" of contracts that NAS proposed this springtime, so, it won't ever be the walkover enjoyed by MOL.
For sure, long term, there is the risk of a deterioration, however, the future expansion means they should be of a mind to keep us semi-sweet, and we are starting from a higher point. The company culture is night & day from Ryanair, the only fly in the ointment being that when Bjorn Kjos finished reading Herb Kelleners biography, the next book he picked off the shelf was Michael O' Learys' one
Canaries base is a difficult one. Most of us are NOT there by choice & certainly it is a commuting nightmare for those who have their home elsewhere. The base (or rather bases ) are likely to shrink back down to max 1/2 aircraft again next Spring (not so good timing for you ) as they did last Spring time. There were rumoured to be 6 (or even 8 ) aircraft based in LPA this Winter, so far. . only 3, & TFS is (I think ) only 2. Lots of night-stopping crew from Scandilands, which is what they were trying to avoid by having Canarias bases. I think if you could get yourself into a base down there, the chance to stay is fairly reasonable, as most of us (regretably for our lifestyle) are commuting. It seems that unless you are really lucky , or are able to master coercion (a few have done) NAS will not guarantee a base until some stage during your training. They have appointed a new bod to deal with basings, the previous one was very pleasant
but I think she was maxed out by this & her numerous other responsibilities , so has moved sideways in the office to deal with less stressful things.
NAS have a fairly poor record with Contractors when it comes to base allocations versus date of entry in the company. With our new deal , it seems "date of entry" as a contractor may soon equate to "company seniority", hopefully this will result in base allocations becoming less "Ryanairesque".
Overall, I would say go for it, already better than Ryanair & likely to remain so, even if we have the odd moment of turbulence to overcome in the next fw years.
HEL based pilots will be 1st to receive a permanent contract from a "wholly owned subsidiary " of NAS, come March we will at this stage see the value the company places on its "valued loyal workforce" in Finland.
