I fully agree, if true I am not impressed nor surprised by the companies actions but I still struggle to have pity for the individual.
There is a small number of pilots moaning that they were "promised" a certain base - contract or not - there isn't much reason to complain. The greatest tragedy for many people in Ryanair (where most of us have come from) was the lack of a transparent basing system - it had the potential to ruin families and family planning- a big problem in a company with so many bases and the willingness to open and close them in a blink of an eye. In Norwegian we have a system and yet pilots think they can walk into Norwegian and skip the queue for a base - contract or no contract - that selfish attitude is not welcome. I will be the last to defend any company making broken promises, however the health warnings regarding those promises were public knowledge. The seniority system is there for everyones long term benefit.
Go to the junior base and do your time. In any event given the expansion a UK base will not take very long. The reward for short term pain will be a protected place in a base you want.
Norwegian has issues but it has a certain amount of established "transparent" systems which are followed 95% of the time. Issues can be fixed through improved communication and negotiations. Essentially, as usual pilots will need to act collectively to encourage the company to move in a certain direction. Pilots believing promises or signing contracts that go against those systems like basing are not helping anyone. A number of pilots who got notified of lay offs this winter apparently only joined the union last week and then demand help - reap what you sow.
Last edited by Widebdy; 6th Jul 2015 at 22:44.