and the only reason there are any UK pilots flying that work at all is because BALPA kicked up a stink about Americans flying it
.
BALPA were quiet about the whole Atlas wet lease - no doubt under pressure of the BA management. It was the IPA which pushed the case and the real reason why GSS was started.
From that ignoble beginning came an almighty stink from BA pilots about the blatant scope-busting attempt from BA.
This isn't how ACMI wet leases work. The freight work was outsourced - as it had been for years. The only case BA pilots had was now that the freighters using Birdseed call-signs now had G registrations.
The outcome of that was that the only way in which BA were going to be able to outsource the flying was to give some of the P1 positions to BA secondees.
I don't see why. GSS had been running for a few years before the secondee situation emerged. They didn't need them, and many in GSS didn't want them. Interestingly, BALPA supported the secondee proposal - perhaps as a bit of a F you to the IPA having had their nose put out of joint in 2002. Knowing ES, I suspect he really didn't care where his captains came from, but was quite happy to go along with a plan from his mates at BA.