I feel for all of the Flybe pilots whether they have been made redundant or not. They are about to face up to the realities of the seniority system that has governed their lives since the time they joined that company.
Suddenly, the bubble has burst and 179 of them have to go.
So, who has to go?
That is indeed the question.
I have been deeply invoved in this question on at least three occasions during my long aviation career.
The first time that it affected me was when I was a DC-10 captain in Laker. We were told that we were going to have to cut back, and, because of my seniority number (nothing to do with my ability or my needs to feed my family) I was going back into the right seat.
I was a pretty young man in those days and my first thought was why don't they get rid of the old expensive captains and keep me?
As it turned out, Fred went bust before I had to make the move.
I then went to work in the US of A and got to know ALPA and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters quite well. Out there, it is quite vicious. Your seniority number is all that matters. It is EVERYTHING. So, if the company needs less pilots in the winter, then you will either move back to the right seat or get furloughed at the drop of a hat (mind you, I did learn how to use the Railway Labor Act of 1928 or whatever it was to my benefit).
My third experience of the seniority system was when I became No.1 on the seniority list in my airline which operated around 40 aeroplanes. It was actually a very pointless position to achieve because by the time they get round to firing the last forty or so pilots then their is no airline left.
I am always very wary of the call for total solidarity in taking industrial action for the simple reason that few people can afford the privilege but a lot of the others are quite simply stuffed financially and can't afford the luxury of protest.
I have vivid memories of coming out of one of one the UAA DC-10 simulators in Denver and airlining back to Miami. At the airport there was still a line of Continental pilots in uniform protesting about the take over of Continental by Frank Lorenzo. This was three years after the take over and they were still protesting. The depressing fact was that Continental were still flying every single flight that they had done before the unpleasantness.
In other words, they had found a sufficient number of pilots who didn't give a toss for the senior pilots and were quite prepared to fly for the new reduced terms.
So, there is nothing new this side of the universe.
Therefore, despite BALPA, there are going to be a lot of pilots who are going to have to seriously look at their own problems and decide whether to take a stand on the seniority position or not.
Many of them might wish that they belonged to the Teamsters rather than the rather ineffectual BALPA.