I have a couple of questions , if I may.
1 Why do you think roster disruption / plot-changes happens
2 What is the solution
I'd just like to know what you think
Thanks

1. Crewing don't have the assets (ie pilots on the books) or the tools, thier own manpower or systems to run the show. PB was meant to spend a week mid winter to see thier problems and put the systems in place to solve this but no change yet.
And this is without the current threat problems we all have to deal with.
Crews accepted the failing of the system over the past few years but have finally got to a point of breaking with total disruption to any sort of life away from work. You can only explain to loved ones, friends etc so many times !
The changes are cumulitive like Fatigue and creep up on you then it is to late.
2. Crew with sufficent numbers and give people a lifestyle, put the assets in place, invest in systems for the future not just this years bonus.:ugh:

There is Power in a Union
 

The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands
There is power in a Union.
WORDS AND MUSIC: Billy Bragg (1988)

Although people say they're leaving not that many are.

So why are the company recruiting to replace all the ones that have left off my fleet?

mon757chick - only 50% of my course still remain in the company. Other 50% have left within 2 years. You go figure that one out.

Lets not forget the ones sat in waiting pools too.
FC

Hapzim,

must just point out for BMI man when you talk of "this years bonus" you are not infact talking about any sort of bonus for the crews but the Management bonus for getting pilots on the cheap.

Yes management bonus for doing things on the cheap, yet costing the company dearly with save a penny, spend thousands mentality.

hapzim, the trouble is if you or I were calling the shots that is exactly what we would do, invest in the infrastructure, rostering systems, consolidate fleets and pay scales. Solutions that would invest in the company's future.
But with the likes of TJ and LS jumping from one company to the next all they are interested in is expanding networks, inflating the size of the company and minimising costs at all cost. Squashing a pilot pay negotiation is just another thing that would look great on their CVs.

"So Tim what qualifies you to take this job at British Virgin Airways??"
"When I went to Monarch they had 280 pilots and 27 ancient aeroplanes. In x years I increased the fleet size by one third nearly doubled the size of the pilot workforce, expanded scheduled services and doubled Monarch's market share. All this while reducing costs, operationally by getting more rotations per day out of the aircraft and not cleaning them in between but predominantly because I successfully handled a pilot pay negotiation that saved the company millions of pounds...etc etc yadda yadda yadda".
"Great Tim have a job"

TJ et al don't give a toss that they are actually :mad: the company up in the process. Sure we have a great market share and moving more PAX than we ever have before but if they are all paying £17.99 rtn to go to Spain then there is no money in it no matter how many flights you do. All we need is another 9/11 or masssive fuel taxes which doesn't look far off in the current climate and its going to be a s**t storm. The pax won't fly as regularly and then we will be stuck with far more a/c and 100s more pilots than the company needs. Monarch has survived this long by being cautious and sticking to what it makes money at - why are we going down the Ryanarch route in an over saturated market? Because it looks good on their CVs!
What are the odds of TJ still being in the company when the next down turn hits?

Dear Tim,


I think you may have discovered that if you want to know anything about how the pilots feel, there's no point asking Richard.


Now, if you want to know whether the crewing computer can be improved, why not ask the software companies, instead of asking Richard?


If you want to know about the cost and practicality of block windows, why not ask your mates at Thomson Fly, instead of asking Richard?


Richard will tell you whatever is best for his bonus. He dogmatically rejects change.


Your pay offer is going to be rejected, big style. The CC recommended it. But we are having none of it. The DC pension needs to improve. RPI is not good enough. Above all, I know I can rely on Richard to use the early start to my utmost detriment. Instead of two days off, a rest day and five mornings, I can expect three days off (the third one instead of the R/D) and six morning flights. I'll vote for that like a turkey would vote for Christmas.


Please consider the fact that the pilot community is about to prove itself more militant than the CC, who are relativly moderate. Please make a sensible offer, or expect to see your aeroplanes parked up for a week in the summer holidays.


Kind Regards,


Mr Typical

Here, here!

Without stating the obvious ' that is a fact ' !

Best post I have seen.

Reply to TJ
 

Dear Tim,
Thank you for your letter which I received this morning.
The answer is still NO so perhaps you would like to rethink the offer whilst you are on your holiday, with especial regard to finding ways of minimizing roster disruption and dragging this company into the 21st century.
As it is school report time,yours would have to be "works hard for himself but needs to do more in building relations with others who have helped him in his success.
He should also stay away from those that only tell him what he wants to hear and instead listen to the experts.Spending money on quality rostering systems will help him succeed and achieve the prizes he thinks he deserves."
Please give my best wishes to the shareholders,if you see them on their super-yacht in Monaco.
Happy Holiday.:ok:

Sorry Tim, its a big fat NO from me too.

Big X placed in the no box....just off to pop the envelope in the post!

I think the question is "Is it going to be yes from anyone?"

I believe the IA ballot closes on Friday of this week.

So its raining again, even more money to be made then.

Just read the 'take home pay' thread latest post.
Yr 2 BA 320 FO.....£3500
Yr 2 MON 320 Capt....£3800
TJ are you reading this?
VOTE NO

Without wishing to pee on anybody's parade, I'm reliably informed that though our ZB load factors are ok, the yields are so low, that we're not actually making any money.
With inflation, particularly mortgage rates, gradually on the increase, people's belts are being tightened in a notch and that affects the holiday plans of the public.
With all the tech a/c , A330 repair costs, shi.te long haul product ruining our charter reputation, etc etc, I'll personally just be glad if Monarch are paying my mortgage next year. :ouch:

If things are so bad why are we buying more A321s and considering opening a new base? :confused::confused:

reliably informed? Anybody who's in a position to know that is hardly likely to say anything else are they?

We'll know times are hard when Peter and Tim start driving 1.8 Mondeo's.

If the company stop wasting so much money, we could take out half the seats and still show more profit.:ugh:

Whiskey Zulu your talkin (or been told) poop i think.

If we're in such a bad way why are we ordering a billion odd quids worth of 787s and adding 2-3 A321s a year.

I'm sorry but when times are tough airlines dont expand, they downsize or stand firm to ride the storm. Doesn't anyone remember post 2001? :rolleyes:

And from i've been told VS pilots we're told the same garbage before they got they're yummy pay deal and when the company went public the books opened up and they not only saw the company we're BS'in about tough times but were making more money then the pilot body/BALPA expected....

So to sum up, i'm pretty certain your mortgage will be safe unless you taxi into a palm tree.

I hope nobody is stupid or more accurately NIAVE enough to vote YES on this deal because the company claims we're experiencing tough times..... when they cancel their billion dollar order with boeing, then i'll believe :mad:

Just booked three seats from AGP to LGW for 30 odd quid each on ZB in mid July.

When is the peak season exactly? This cannot be a big earner.

Hope I'm wrong - I generally am.

Spud its not called a peak week/season if its not a big earner......

I think your flight will be safe for the moment - mid july is when we expect the result for the latest pay 'offer' that we are all currently voting on.

Not concerned about the flights. More concerned that carriers can't sell seats for £30 in July and expand and be profitable.
Call me old fashioned, but when ZB was smaller and offered a better product (scoff, drinks etc.) it was on to a good thing. Now, the goal of piling ever higher and selling ever cheaper might be coming to the end of the line. The LCC model will be around for the long run but the days of boundless LCC expansion and cut throat competition might just be running out of steam.
I'd be happy to be wrong, I like being able to buy seats for the price of a curry.

In some repspects I feel a little sorry for TJ.

This is a man, as far as I can see, who has a certain amount of vision and pro-active ideas. Whether they will eventually turn the company into Ryanair 2 will yet to be seen. For our, as well as his sake, I hope that will not be the case!

However, I can't help feel that the complete and utter mess we find ourselves in at the moment boils down to one man and one man alone. You simply CAN NOT expand an airline by 1/3rd in such a short space of time by the amount of aircrew and aircraft and not expand the infrastructure down at the head shed at all. It is not rocket-science - It simply DOES NOT WORK.

Not only is investment needed in crew and aircraft, BUT ALSO things that make the airline work as it should. By that I mean, efficient rostering software with sufficient crewing staff to oversee it. It has long been said, and long been ignored, that employing ONE person to oversee taxi allocation and putting people in the right place, would save the company not only this persons' salary, but a small fortune besides. The excuse that it is not required is the worst case of burying your head in the sand that I can think of. Sometimes it takes a bigger man to stand up and say that someone elses ideas are better than theirs and actaully do something about it. Time to swallow some pride. Time for TJ to take a grip on his management staff.

The absence of anyone heading the airline's training department is an absolute disgrace and is something that has gone on far too long and has only been sustainable due to the fine work of the one and only person who administers the training department and it's trainers. If she was ever to leave, we would be up the creek without a paddle faster than you could so, "zero cost option".

Personally, I feel TJ has been woefully let down by his Ops director who has completely mis-read the feeling of not just the pilot community, but the vast majority of the airlines' staff.

...I guess this is what happens when you have management promoted from backgrounds with no management experience.

Believe me - it shows!

The sooner we start seeing some leadership which is prepared to invest in all of our futures, the better. If not, I truly worry for all of our futures.
:\

TM&S.Your post only scratches the surface of what Monarch is really all about.
The airline has always been very conservative and reluctant to modernise.If you parked a Britannia outside a portakabin at Luton airport there are many in the office who would not notice the difference.
We are no longer a charter airline but have the infrastructure of one plus the management ethos.The charter product never got above the bucket and spade level and we now lag behind many of the more farsighted companies.
Our differing and aging fleets would put a Luton taxi business to shame.
These intrinsic flaws have never seemed to matter as long as we were a billionaires accountancy vehicle.
Trying to make sense of all this is our new leader.He wants us to be Ryanair mk2.Fighting against the current management is probably going to be harder for him than fighting his pilots.
We are forty years old next year and it is time that a number of the deadwood is swept away.Get rid of their outdated attitudes,adequately reward your staff and your dreams will come true TJ.
A workforce that feels well rewarded and not threatened will do more for you than a demoralised one that is constantly messed around by unnecessary roster changes.

I don't feel in the least bit sorry for Tim Jeans, he might be bright and very dynamic but he is a one trick pony. His Ryan Air low cost model he is applying to each airline that employs him and look where MyTravel Light are now!

Ignoring the few things Monarch does well to drag us into competition with the super low costs has done nothing but reduce the airlines margins, spread it thinner and unfortunatley make it very comparable how poorely paid and rostered we are in comparison to their pilots.

Am really sorry for what's happening to you Monarch guys. How did it get to such a state and where's it all going to end?

Ia result has been announced-I think you can guess how it turned out!!

Just got a text from a source, well done guys, well done :ok:

Can some one PM me the result?

Result available on BALPA forum.

Above 90%.

Easy Rider,

I believe that even if one does taxi into a palm tree, one's mortage will be safe:ok:

Anyone for a bounty??

Read This Please
 

I've noticed a new thread called Monarch.
I suggest read Monarch T&C's before applying ,as it is quite shocking indeed.

Regards

Well as expected latest pay offer rejected by a substantial majority. PB & TJ will have to remove their attack on our t & c and up from zero cost what the company are offering. At least it's getting the Directors and management out to the crewrooms, just a shame it's not over the weekends and early or late when most of us pass through the crewrooms.

Monarch management is still grossly out of touch with the mood of the pilots. Perhaps this latest wake up call will be their last chance to get people back on side.