I joined BA wanting to be a short haul pilot forever. I never wanted to fly long haul however I soon realised that short haul flying for an entire career was unsustainable for me. That was at Gatwick over a decade ago!
Short haul SFOs must be pretty desperate to get away if they aren't bidding for short haul commands? Or maybe they are bidding, but allowing them to swap seats only exacerbates the short fall in Airbus FOs. They sure have got themselves into a bit of a pickle. I've heard stories in the past of Walsh saying the best gauge of how unhappy the workforce is, is whether they are are actually leaving. Well I interpret a lack of bidders for short haul commands as people leaving short haul. It's been going on for years! Sadly, I suspect one of the solutions being considered, will be to reduce the paypoint at which SFO pay is frozen. BALPA being BALPA, will agree rather than using this clear signal to sort out the fundamental issues.