There seems to be a lot of mention of BALPA.
I worked in aviation for 5 years, am now a train driver. From what I recall BALPA guys are there for exactly the same reason as ASLEF guys......they do the union thing purely to get X number of days off 'work' every month.

That is the only reason ASLEF exists!!

Well..

You can't expect to post something like that and not get a reaction - perhaps that's what you wanted - perhaps your experience with BALPA was not a good one..

However - the guys who hold positions in BALPA in my company are absolutely fantastic. The amount of work they get through on our behalf beggars belief - and they are always at it, whether on BALPA 'days off' or taking/making phone calls down route when most people just head for the bar.

This is a bit of thread creep away from the main subject but I couldn't let a comment like that pass.

And I'm sorry that your experience of BALPA has been negative, I really am, but it's not always like that.

40% , thats about right, so when BA announced a massive loss and VS a few days later announced , 'arn't we great, we made a profit', no mention in the press of pilots being chopped.

Funny that.....is that daft irishman running VS these days ?

I've heard that a second round of layoffs are coming. Third if you include the IFBTs.
Maybe that just means that profits( aherm) wasn't as good as they said?
The bugeted losses for 6 months went in just two.

Good luck to all the line crews maybe even some of the trainers.

And Virgin has just ordered a number of A330s...Go get it.

The A330 orders are good news for the pilots - especially the furloughed pilots so long as these aircraft don't represent exact replacements of 744s or older A340s. Let's hope this means some incremental growth before the 787s arrive (let's hope they don't cancel those delayed orders).

I think that some people are under the impression that BALPA can click their fingers and stop Companies do what they want to do in their tracks!!

BALPA isn't perfect by any means but to accuse reps of doing it for more days off is ridiculous, I was a rep (not VS) and not only did it consume far more time than just the allocated days, it was stressful, and lost me shed loads of money by not flying so much.

One question!

How much can Singapore airline losses be related to Virgin losses/profits?
Saying something "largely related" has no meaning what so ever when to explain linkage between those carriers. Is this due to Code sharing, price of shares that have plummeted (losses which is by law put in the books at the end of the year) or other factors in shared business interest?

I ask this question because it I am unfamiliar with the linkage between those carriers to come to more accurate conclusion on the stability of Virgin as a company. Hearsay is not enough to build upon, just adds more confusion to information. Btw I am not an employee for neither of those carriers.

Singapore airlines owns 49% of Virgin, thats your link.

4 Engines 4 Longhaul ??
 

I seem to recall in the not too distant past that Branson was trumpeting '4 engines 4 longhaul' all over his aircraft - I understand that he has now 'ordered' A330s ? Rather an about face ?

His recent PR stunts against BA seem to be the actions of a desperate man - pushing the line that he is doing well but allegedly loking at a serious second bout of redundancies coupled to ''Virgin accounting territory''.

Did you really just put Branson and VAT in the same sentence? But that was a long time ago.:=

:D

And where would they go Willie in this economy? I guess Qatar is hiring.

I'm appalled that anyone could think that Virgin could do anything underhand and be accused
of manipulating the press to gain publicity.

Many years ago, the company I worked for had a surplus of pilots but had the good sense to see that it might just be a short term problem. Their suggestion to us was to job share. Two pilots agreed to work alternate months.
The up side was that we kept our jobs, albeit on a reduced basic salary. The upside for the company was that two pilots working to the limits of FDT produced 1200 hours a year, rather than the then limit of 1000. Those 200 hours more than made up for the extra simulator ride. Indeed, when the good times came around a year or so later, we, and the company, agreed to stay working part time as it suited us all admirably.
Some of you senior pilots in VA might like to consider this. The economics of such a deal really do make it viable for all concerned.

My months off were spent running a sail charter boat in the Med.
Nice work if you can get it!

Perhaps BA could surreptitiously go round at night and cover over the '4 engines 4 long haul' and repaint them with '2'll do'?

:}

Hey wobble,

Does BA still paint multi-coloured African art on its aircraft tailplanes?

Just haven't see any for a while...ho hum ;)

Hey wobble2wank
The 4 engines 4 long haul hasn't been on for a considerable amount of time. Quite a while since you've been to an airport eh?

It reminds me of one VS pilots repost at hearing it. To "Four engimes for long haul" he replied "Two pilots, too tired". perhaps this was the reason it was deleted!

Is this thread about redundacies or the merits of 4 engines over 2 for long haul? Start a new thread if you want to discuss such things, in Tech Log. Peasants.

Just heard that nother 63 pilots to be go at VS ?

Good luck to all, not happy days at all.