To many of the posters that pound their keyboards with conviction….a short history lesson for those that were not here in 1999.
At the time, emotions and stress had built up after several years during which we were at the receiving end of a constant stream of threats, pay cuts and reduced conditions; parallel to a concerted campaign by the Company to demean and diminish pilots among the other employees (Commitment Days).
Letters from the then DFO contained threats of employment action against those “perceived” to be working against the best interests of the Company and trainers were threatened. At that time, the AOA leadership was very strong and the association membership consisted of 95% of Cathay pilots.
An equally aggressive letter to the pilots from the AOA answered every threatening letter written by the Company. It was a non-stop, high stakes, roller coast ride of emotion.
Except for a sizeable group of members from Australia who were the living casualties of the industrial “dispute” that occurred in Australia in 1989, and which culminated in them loosing their jobs, the AOA membership was united, tired of the cuts to our contracts, and most pilots wanted to respond in some way.
Many of the Aussies, who had seen this movie before, were very reluctant to take part in any industrial action that would risk a repeat of them loosing their jobs. The Company sensed this weakness and aggressively nurtured this sentiment.
A point was reached where pilots were in no condition to be flying. The stress was immense and emotions had frayed to the point where people’s mental capacity was genuinely diminished and a boiling point was reached in 1999. Following a very emotional AOA meeting in TST, a sick out campaign began the next morning.
The two Company flight surgeons, having witnessed first hand the build up of stress, were extremely supportive of the pilots on the line. They issued sick notes to any and all….without question (and paid a price for their support after the event).
What happened next was quite illuminating. It began as a trickle, but then snowballed as a large number of B scalers began to report sick to support the small number of A scalers who initiated the action in Hong Kong (much to the relief of the A scalers who got the ball rolling).
The Company was quick to respond. We were eviscerated in the local press….which characterized us as spoiled and overpaid miscreants who were faking illness against a reasonable and just employer.
As days went by, and as airplanes were parked, a number of pilots elected to avoid, prevaricate, deceive, and do any number of things to not call in sick for fear of losing their jobs. Even those who had been on G days for the first week of the campaign, and after 500 pilots had already reported unfit, were still too terrified and simply unable to steel themselves to the task. Many went to work, some sneaked into work, and flew with an immense sense of self loathing. The stress these pilots operated under was incredible.
The tech logs had names blacked out so no one could check to see who was still flying….
Many of the offenders at the time were, surprisingly, among those who previously pounded their chest and screamed the loudest for AOA action. Many crumbled under self imposed doubts, admitting to friends of having reconciled themselves to being cowards. It could not have been easy for these pilots to go to work and fly. Long time friendships ended; and many personal relationships fell apart.
To this day, among those of us who were there, everyone knows which side of the line each person stood on.
To many of the posters here who pound their keyboards with conviction….
Last edited by raven11; 6th May 2014 at 11:25.
Reason: edit