It seems to me that denial of base transfers is a tactic which results in being seen to "give something" to the pilots when things are becoming tough for the company. In other words, keep something in reserve, at zero cost to the company, but enormous personal cost to "employees".
From Wikipedia:
"Stockholm syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness."
Last edited by Al Murdoch; 13th May 2014 at 18:10.