Lux_avi wrote: ↑05 Jul 2022, 09:44
Flanker2 wrote: ↑05 Jul 2022, 07:04
I feel for both sides of this.
I feel for the crews who must be exhausted and unhappy with their decreasing purchasing power as well as the still very present Covid.
I feel for the airline which is battling lack of staff and high oil prices while some seats are not filling up as they should despite huge demand.
I think that in this case, the best solution is to offer bonusses to those who want to maximise their hours and also go into overtime. Not everyone feels exhausted, and those who want to work should be given the opportunity.
I would also ask the DGAC for temporary dispensation on monthly flight time limits for flight crews so that those who want to, can go into overtime, by say 10%.
The Great Resignation has taken a lot of people out of the job market. Covid has taken a lot of people out of the job market in many forms, some have lost their lives, some have caught Long Covid, many are calling in sick every week, adding pressures to the workforces.
Group pressure is pushing people to take off their masks, especially in Belgium where this is very extreme, but the straight reality is that people, especially working people, are uneasy with this and many would rather not work than risk catching Covid.
I think that employers such as Brussels Airlines should encourage the wearing of masks to their staff, while letting each decide whether they would.
Covid numbers are rising again across Europe, and while the death toll is very low at present, not everything is life or death, for many it's not worth it to expose oneself and their families for the pleasure of a miserable salary. Many may not think this out loud, but be feeling this subconsciously.
Flight time limitations are there for a reason. You cannot go beyond well established (and EASA) rules just because you feel like earning more money.
Passengers sitting in the back of your plane need to make sure you're fit to fly. Point.
On top of that, their requirements have nothing to do with hours, it's all about the way their rosters are scheduled.
If you do BRU-TFS-BRU 4 times a week, you'll do lots of hours but you'll be much less tired than by doing split duties ending at night and starting again the early morning the day after.
As for COVID, everybody lives with it nowadays. It's July 2022 in the mean time.
Whether you work in an aircraft or at your local supermarket doesn't make a difference.
It's July 2022 and Covid is flaring up if you haven't noticed yet? People calling in sick right and left and I don't know anyone who enjoys staying in bed with a sore throat for several days.
Covid is still very much a problem, it puts pressure on staff availability and the way numbers are soaring, it won't be long before hospitals start filling up again.
Brussels Airlines' finances are in shambles, but so are most airlines'. At present time, any analysis on that is pointless. Recession is around the corner, inflation not going down, Russian airspace is closed to EU airlines, and god knows what is going to happen next with a looming Taiwan crisis.
A tough tough environment for airlines and they're not even making money. This whole industry has gone from being essential to being pointless.
Airline employees, good luck but maybe it's not the worst idea to start looking around for other jobs that offer better security, pay better and do not monopolise your entire life. Even an A330 captain' salary pales in comparison with what people are earning installing solar and I see many people moving over from aviation to the renewables.
Aviation is the old sexy, renewables are the new sexy.
Forget that blue lanyard, it's passé, an industry with no future.
As for the airline HR departments, good luck, the times of hiring 10 pilots out of 3000 applicants is over. Time to pay your staff well or vanish. The times of airline corporate offices behaving arrogantly is in the past.
Before the pandemic, Lufthansa was trying to buy up every European airline. Now it's all become a huge burden, it was all in vain.
Forget flight time limitations and red tape, planeloads of people died daily during the Covid crisis because of government laissez faire attitude, you can't be ultra strict in one sector like aviation safety and then people left to die for nothing like in the Far West in other sectors, that's regulatory discrimination. The airplane arrives to it's destination safe and sound, meanwhile inside the cabin half the people were infected many of whom died later in a hospital from an agonising and lonely death. That's not regulation anymore, it's discrimination.
Time for governments to nationalise airlines and operate essential routes only and with sustainable technology, such as green hydrogen. Who cares if it doesn't make money? Global warming has a cost too. Should our planet and society keep paying for the consequences of global warming so rich people can get richer as airline shareholders?
Time to review this broken transport system, cut down on dirty jet engines and start investing in high speed pan-European Maglev and HSR, the way the Chinese did in a handful of years. Maybe also Hyperloop but not convinced about that yet.
Paris to Tokyo in 18 hours with Maglev in sleeping berths, instead of 13 hours in a tiny seat plus 5 hours getting to and from the airport. Don't tell me it can't be done after the trillions distributed during the pandemic like it's nothing.
I just don't see a future for this dino juice burning industry anymore it remained stuck 50 years ago, time to move on to something smarter.