Brussels Airlines : pilots strike looming

[RoMax]

Romax and other managers, if you're not happy with how the pilots reacted and went on strike, just quit your job and go fly somewhere else, where striking is not allowed.

Oh haha I'm not working as a manager and certainly not for SN. If you want to strike, well I don't agree but ok that's your choice. But if you (or well, a collegue of you) start to call YOUR passengers arrogant because they complain, than you are not worth it to have a well paid job (maybe not compared to other pilots, but in the end you have still a well paid job) working for a commercial PASSENGERS airline.

[B.Inventive]

Romax I believe every strike has an impact. For some more important than for others. If you based your life decisive 'moment' to be dependant on any service provider, then you are taking a risk. You can NOT get any risk free services in this world, if you believe that you are a fool.
What if the airplane broke down and you weren't able to get to this 'funeral'. Would a 600€ compensation for a cancelled flight, for what ever reason, compensate you for that? Aren't you being the naive one in this case? Maybe the plane broke down because manager X decided not to regularly check item A, would you be as cruel to him as the pilot on strike who is actually defending his rights?
The way you explain it no one should ever defend themselves and 'the boss' is really just a dictator. Well no thank you sir, those times have passed.

[FlightMate]

And furthermore, I don't think pax will remember the strike too much. Unless they have a batter alternative in the future, of course.

But hey, people keep on flying FR even when their flight is cancelled and they get no assistance. Why? Because it's cheap.
People keep on flying with AF even though they keep on crashing their planes. Why? Convenience I suppose.
People keep on riding the train in Belgium, the TGV in France. Why? Because no better option.
At SN it will be the same. People fly them because they either convenient, or because they are the cheaper option. And still will.

[RoMax]

You can NOT get any risk free services in this world, if you believe that you are a fool.

Of course not, but bad weather, a mechanical problem, ... is (normally) outside the power of the airline. Do not expect a similar reaction when you are striking. Passengers will not be that eager to accept the situation if their flight is cancelled because of a strike. If you call that arrogance...

The way you explain it no one should ever defend themselves and 'the boss' is really just a dictator. Well no thank you sir, those times have passed.

I'm not saying that at all, but I do think that when you are working at a company such as an airline, (public) bus company, (public) railway company, ... you should be VERY carefull before you go on strike as in the end it will always be your clients that get the first hit. And when your unions say in the media on Sunday that their will be small actions "probably having influence on certain flights, but no full strike" and you actually do go on strike the following day...that's what I call arrogance, not the reaction of the passengers.

[RoMax]

And furthermore, I don't think pax will remember the strike too much. Unless they have a batter alternative in the future, of course.

But hey, people keep on flying FR even when their flight is cancelled and they get no assistance. Why? Because it's cheap.
People keep on flying with AF even though they keep on crashing their planes. Why? Convenience I suppose.
People keep on riding the train in Belgium, the TGV in France. Why? Because no better option.
At SN it will be the same. People fly them because they either convenient, or because they are the cheaper option. And still will.

I didn't know pilots are so short-sighted...
Of course they will, but in the meantime you ruined the plans of thousands of passengers (and besides, you can be assured certain people WILL remember it, the difference with AF, FR, TGV,... there are much more alternatives for SN which has a very limited market share, even in Brussels) and you once again threw millions through the drain of your already financially hurted company.

[b.lufthansa]

I didn't know pilots are so short-sighted...
Of course they will, but in the meantime you ruined the plans of thousands of passengers (and besides, you can be assured certain people WILL remember it, the difference with AF, FR, TGV,... there are much more alternatives for SN which has a very limited market share, even in Brussels) and you once again threw millions through the drain of your already financially hurted company.

Blablablablabla!!!!!!

You get what you deserve!!!!!

Discussions about these items has been done for many many many months!!!!!!

So .....

management shouldn't pretend as if they where not warned !!!!!!!

Next strike warning ==>> cabin crew ????

[B.Inventive]

I never meant to say all the reactions of the pax are arrogant, rather the short-sightedness of some IS. I just will not accept that because indeed the actions I make are directly reflected on the client I am not entitled to defend my rights.
In my example it was the stupidity of a manager causing the cancellation thus not unavoidable.
Also,
If tomorrow we do any action 'outside' the book to hamper/delay operations or consume more fuel than required without reason I will be giving my employer a legal hammer to knock me out without severance pay. And I promise you the book is written very carefully to make sure there are no spots left uncovered... They already learnt that lesson a long time ago.

So what is left? handing out pamphlets? While I believe in the concept I am unfortunately faced with the harsh truth that the only thing which actually get's our decision makes off their *ss is money.
Nothing else. They made that call... not us!

Also do note that the communication is not always crystal clear. Last few days have made it clear that transparant communication towards the media did not take place. Media is very poorly informed.
Management also has people working for them to push media into a certain direction to make sure the company comes out as 'the one who was forced' while in fact it is them forcing us...
You should really be careful about media, and most certainly about the spokespersons of b.air. They have a tendency to be a tad dishonest.
Our unions do have a problem with communication but they are simply not a paid organism to handle this. They do their best to be clear but unfortunately are not always just that. They do all of this on a pro-bono basis and it takes a lot of their personal time ... I respect that this implies they will not always be the picture perfect spokesperson.

[FlightMate]

Romax, I'm trying to be the opposite of short-sighted.

As the obvious conclusion would be that pax will not fly SN anymore after the strike, I'm trying to broaden the perspective.

As it's not like employees were going on strike every 6 months for the last 12 years, pax can realize the chances of encountering a similar problem are low. And if SN managed to sort things out for most of them (offering alternative arrangements, hotels, flights, ...), pax will even think of SN as a much better choice than FR, for example.
Of course, I am not saying that the strike was a good thing, just trying to put that into perspective.

And the company, by operating 1 full flight instead of 2 half-empty might even be saving money, there (just kidding of course )

We should just wait for the numbers of bookings before/after the strike, year on year, but I don't think there will be a significant difference.

Remember, a lot of things can (and did) go wrong for pax: technical issues (happening more on a aging fleet), booking/check-in black-out (happened in BRU a few months ago), weather issues (happening a lot in CDG, LHR, BRU, compared to other countries), strikes (happening more in France than in Belgium), luggages issues (strike in Belgium, or LHR T5)...
Sure, some passengers will be pissed off and will decided to change their choices in the future, but in the end, what matters is price/flexibility/convenience/service

Hell, do you think that by flying IB to MAD or AZ to FCO, you have less chances of encountering problems?
Would you rather fly Air Congo or similar to Africa, just because they haven't gone on strike?

[sean1982]

These pilots reactions only proof that they are not on a planet called earth. What an unseen arrogance. I'm baffeled. Your attitude is a slap in the face for everyone that earns less then you do, including your colleagues who work very hard every day to ensure your damned plane can take of in the first place! Shame on you

[SN1203]

These pilots reactions only proof that they are not on a planet called earth. What an unseen arrogance. I'm baffeled. Your attitude is a slap in the face for everyone that earns less then you do, including your colleagues who work very hard every day to ensure your damned plane can take of in the first place! Shame on you

Sean1982, same feelings here... They all seem to be the true victims while they're forgetting they have a very comfortable life. I really don't know what is causing these constant feelings of being lied to etc. They all seem to take the crap from the unions for granted without any rational reflection on it. Sad state of affairs if you ask me because there just doesn't seem to be a way to get some rationale in the debate.

[B.Inventive]

If you want to believe you CEO without a doubt: be my guest. I sincerely hope they slash your working conditions in half tomorrow without any alternative.
Good luck, I will be there to flame you for any complaint thereafter.

[sean1982]

Since when is SN the only one to offer a job in the world? No alternatives?? If SN would go belly up tomorrow dear pilots, you would probably very quickly be able to find another job with better conditions even. Te same cannot be said for your supportive staff in the office, on the ground or even in the cabin. And Im not talking about managers. Nice demonstration on how to treat colleagues there!

[Pocahontas]

Ok Sean, where should I go. Tell me? My wife has a good job in Belgium... and what about my kids going to school here? Give me one decent alternative for a family guy like me.

[sean1982]

Plenty of commuting jobs around .... I know about 10 pilots who commute with families and kids.

Edit: non FR pilots I mean. If I count the FR pilots as well I know a lot more, but that requires a B737 TR off course.

[papysn]

Hi,

Sean seems to always have the good answer...not happy go away,look at other people.
This is not the point, we love our job and our company,suerly more than yours,that you.re so prompt to leave in case of trouble,we just want it to go the good way.
You know,it s a little bit like a marriage,i prefer to stay and try to fix things than yo leave at the first problem.It's not your case,obviously!

[sean1982]

No, definatly not the case for me. I like what I do, but if my company would decide tomorrow to screw me over my loyalty would very quickly dissapear. But do you think you can save your "marriage" by suddenly stopping al your duties and waiting for the other party to give in? I havent seen many marriages being saved that way :-/

[convair]

...i prefer to stay and try to fix things than to leave at the first problem.

You have a peculiar way to try to fix a problem!

[BRU]

If people (for example pilots at brussels airlines) belief a strike has no impact, that it is a fight of staff against management and that there are not many alternatives for passengers today, I have no doubts anymore that the future of brussels airlines is not looking promissing... in Europe, plenty of alternatives. To the States: same. And to Africa ? Competition is growing: KLM / AF / TK / QR / EY and soon also EK, withouth any doubts. Better aircraft, better frequencies, better price. But with a stop as only negative side.

Nop, I would not be so sure that people will continue flying brussels airlines... (and even if they do, at a certain point you also have to make money !!)

[B.Inventive]

Sean I understand you are loyal because you are happy with your conditions. But as you said your loyalty might change.
And as some people above mentioned: leaving BRU is not as easy as it seems...
I understand at RYR life is a dictatorship of the company, no questions asked... but I believe that is not the right way of doing business and it will eventually backfire...

[Pocahontas]

Competition is growing: KLM / AF / TK / QR / EY and soon also EK, withouth any doubts. Better aircraft, better frequencies, better price. But with a stop as only negative side.

And tell me how this is the pilots fault? Would it be possible that all you name is a management decision to make?