DM,
Did you take the time to read my posts on the Jetconnect thread? If you haven't, I'd ask you to again. I know that QF-bashing is a great sport for many on this forum and, if someone has a different opinion to you and works for Qantas, then hey, they must be arrogant right?
I am all too aware DM, that the trend is toward lowering labour costs worldwide. Do you expect me to be happy about that? Or to welcome those who would seek to lower my conditions? Where do you work DM? How about someone offering to undercut you and put pressure on your pay rates? I can only assume that you would welcome them onboard, give them automatic union representation and (in the current climate) strike on their behalf (thus endangering your own job) to improve the sub-standard conditions that they have already agreed to.
Hugh,
I guess it must give you some sort of intellectual superiority to belittle other people's opinions if they dare to differ to yours. Your CRM on the flightdeck must be truly breathtaking!!! Personally, I'd rather live in my world than yours - a world where some take pride in the uniform that they have worked hard to achieve and where they care about preserving the good image of the company that employs them (whether the company values that commitment or not). Sometimes it is that image that entices passengers onboard and prolongs their employment. I guess it is that image and reputation that makes Qantas use those same uniforms and similar paintschemes on low-cost startups.
No Hugh, I don't think that we get paid more because we're better pilots. We get paid more because a group of individuals went on strike in earlier years to earn these conditions. In time, and in the right industrial climate, maybe that action will have to be repeated. It will not be helped by the continual downward pressure on wages that you and DM seem not to care much about. I only have about 15 years left in the workforce, and I'll be fighting to keep the conditions that I have.
If you, Hugh and DM, are happy to see the pressure currently being put on our wages, then I guess the legacy of low pilot wages for those pilots who join the airline in the future, will be a leagacy that you can both be very proud of.
Good on you Hugh bwahahahahaha
