Originally Posted by
Troo believer
Once bitten twice shy.
I echo the above post. Thanks for coming back to the table, Troo.
Mainline pilots have been bitten (more than once) and it becomes natural to blame the false enemy (pilots taking jobs where they are available) rather than the true enemy (the architects of divide and conquer).
It's time pilots united themselves against these architects, rather than attempting to defend their own turf. Uniting across the Tasman isn't easy, given the mix of regulatory and industrial boundaries. But taking another losing case to the courts over changing aircraft tails isn't going to help anyone.
As I said earlier, apparently AIPA is in "talks" with QF on the subject. They wouldn't be if QF didn't
want some pilot flexibility. I have no idea what will come from these "talks". I have no knowledge of union matters. But AIPA has a pretty strong history of defending seniority, so I would doubt they would agree to anything that would cost mainline pilot career advancement.
I predict that what comes out of this will come down to the attitudes and ideologies of those at the negotiating table (on all sides). It's not beyond my imagination that a solution could be found that would benefit all parties (mainline pilots, Jetconnect pilots, and Qantas). Whether that solution can be identified and agreed upon remains to be seen. If not, we might just be left with the status quo.