PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - easyJet Lisbon pilots announcing 5 days of strike
Old 5th Dec 2013, 07:47
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Aluminium shuffler
 
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Having worked for a few locos, and knowing plenty of people in both the main EU rivals and many other EU airlines too, I can honestly say they they aren't of any specific type. They are just like other airlines' pilots. Some very ill-informed people will suggest that loco pilots are in some way inferior, but if that were the case, why would the legacy carriers be so keen on recruiting them? I can't see an inferior class of pilot dealing with so many NPAs on to postage stamp sized contaminated runways with next to no company support and so much time pressure not coming a cropper; the conditions that they operate in without any significant statistical incident blip shows they are mostly very capable indeed.

As for their attitudes and them letting the industry slide, some people do not have the luxury of sitting unemployed until the plumb jobs open up for them, and if they did they'd be so far out of currency that they'd be unemployable. You have to take the jobs that are available, and you can't dictate terms from outside. Some also put family before job satisfaction, and would rather work for an unpleasant employer or for lower salaries than leave their family, and I count myself amongst those.

So, should those individuals be barred from trying to improve their lot? Of course not. And by improving conditions at one of the locos, other rivals will have to up their game to compete, and ultimately so will the legacy carriers. So rather than condemning these guys, they should be applauded and encouraged.
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