How low can you go?
As if Cobham pilots weren't some of the lowest paid, enjoying the some of the lowest conditions operating in one of the least supported jet operations in Australia. This bombshell was announced last week:
"The company is exploring employing pilots through an entity other than Cobham with the view of reducing costs and increasing flexibility".
Of the approximately 200 717 pilots employed by Cobham, as much as 10% are on the verge of leaving to go to a number of different airlines, and they are the ones we know of. What in the blazers were Cobham managers thinking when they threatened to outsource an already very cheap to run workforce? This is hot on the heels of a sudden management led spike in interest in the leave balance, leading to leave being allocated (a debacle in itself) and a multitude of EBA breaches, some requiring union intervention to suppress. It would seem Adelaide have declared war on pilots-again.
But are we surprised? Possible explanations being floated seem to revolve around either a fear campaign leading up to EBA negotiations, an indication of increasing management contempt for its "inflexible" staff, or an indication of what might happen post 2018. Whatever the case, this is not how you treat your staff, many of which have been loyal, long serving employees whom have been with the company since the early days of National Jet. Shame on them and what they are doing in the interests of a few dollars.
Time for another survey?