Well I have to say I bow to your clear knowledge on this matter. However I am deeply concerned for at least two people I know who will not be sleeping easy tonight given the perilous position this will put them in. I’ve not had contact with my more uh the know eastern person for some time so I’m trying to establish whether the contract ends October 26th this year or October 2026. I assume it’ll be this year when it ends. There will be job losses resulting from this because there is no conceivable way Eastern can keep that number of E-Jets busy.
I know I’m scathing of DSA. I never like to see job losses regardless of industry. But getting a break into flying commercially can be exceptionally tough for new entrants who have just forked out the equivalent of a small mortgage to achieve their dream. I maintain that eastern have been a well trodden (and well respected in terms of the quality they produce) path for those wanting their break into the industry. Airport staff can simply move on, low hour pilots cannot. There will be a fair few flight crew with 200 hours on a type that not many airlines in the U.K. use and not much hope of progressing onto something else. Truly heartbreaking,
I’ve been fortunate but the struggle for me was very real and lengthy. This could quite easily have been me in those position. I just hope RL manages to find something else to at least buy them some time, but age isn’t on his side and I feel he won’t be far off wrapping it up.
@White Heather it would appear that reliability issues were not a factor in this decision, they certainly weren’t performing any worse than KLC on the more established routes. However bridges get burned and the known commodity of KLMs services meant they commanded a high per sector price. This isn’t something that the airline you allude to would be prepared to pay for a route that doesn’t currently operate sadly. I do think eastern might keep hold of a couple of E-jets as they come in handy for charters, and I understand cost £0 when sitting idle. Hopefully some of the more experienced crew will leave to the bigger airlines meaning those without enough hours to move on are kept in a form of gainful employment until such time that they too can move on to bigger better and more certain futures.
Will be a sad day when Eastern close for good.
