[openfly]

I have known a BA short-haul Cabin Service Director for many years. She has given BA 28 years service. A delightful lady.
Talking to her yesterday I saw a very despondent person.

She has decided that, due to all the reductions in service and quality, she has to leave BA.

She made two poignant comments that made her decision inevitable….after years of seeing BAs service deteriorate she has no intention of embarrassingly asking passengers on the UKs flag carrier to pay £2.50 for a tea bag. She went on to say “I have totally run out of apologies…none left, I have to go”.

There are so many other BA staff who are similarly disenchanted. How sad.

[canucklad]

Well Openfly, on a personal level it is sad that your friend has fallen out of love with her long term employer.
I’ll guarantee you that the BA management are absolutely delighted with your friend’s decision.
Another pesky, proud to work for BA legacy colleague off the books.
Remember, the savings on employee relations can be quite significant!

[Stowage222]

You’re right canucklad, that’s the point. This CSD will be followed by 349 other senior CSD’s and Pursers as they ‘enjoy’ voluntary redundancy offered by BA to reduce expensive crew. Means of course more Mixed Fleet can be employed. The run down of Worldwide and Eurofleet continues.

[esselle]

And no doubt BA can replace your friend with a much less costly head. Sad indeed that BA won’t see it as a loss, despite the care, experience and loyalty which she would have brought to the passengers.

[seasonedtraveller]

Just last week, on the short hop from LBA to LHR I was talking to an equally disenfranchised lady who has been with BA “a great number of years”.

Even though the service was very short, she made the job her own and was happy, jolly, smiling and thoroughly professional… so taken was I by her whole attitude that I passed her one of the Golden Tickets as I was leaving the aircraft – something I have struggled to do with BA crew recently.
She called me back to say thanks & said this – (more or less)….”I really appreciate this, thanks… it’s getting so difficult to keep positive these days but I always try my best to look after you Golds whenever I can – you are the people who pay my wages”

I hope the same lady is on todays flight to LHR (off to EWR this afternoon)

[JohnHarper]

Mrs JH and I have been friends for many years with a couple who both work for BA, he is a training captain on the A320 fleet and she is a CSD on Eurofleet. They have been to Cyprus to stay with us recently and she expressed on several occasions the same sentiments as openfly’s friend and she too is taking redundancy. She feels strongly about giving up ‘her’ airline to a load of short term shorter sighted managers who are ruining the company for short term gain and destroying the good will of passengers without so much as a second thought. Many times she said ‘they just think our passengers are stupid and will fly with us no matter what.’ Of course some will but many will go.

She knows she will be replaced by a ‘Mixed Fleet’ person who won’t care about BA or the passengers either. At the same time the disaffected crew who equally don’t care about BA or the passengers and who have no where to go will remain, so the perfect storm is coming if it hasn’t arrived already

When they’ve been before they’ve flown to LCA but this time they did LHR-IST-ECN on TK and she described the TK offering as something that a BA customer or crew member could only dream about.

[MrMichael]

No doubt I will be shot down here……..

Businesses employ directors to strategize the future direction a company takes. A good company will listen to its employees and will take note and action points made employers that fit in with the overall strategy. They may even change or abandon the strategy if the points made by the staff make compelling reason to do so. Any business must listen to its staff, but not dictated to by them. However it is listening and agreeing with staff in the vain hope they are right, or to avoid conflict that has derailed many a successful business, including the airline industry. Think LH/AF at the moment who continue to pour money down the runway gully because they have not the gumption to stand up to aged staff on out of date contracts with tired old ways and methods of working that hark back to the times of “the worlds favourite airline”. The world and times have moved on, and people need to as well.

I have no doubt the lady mentioned has done a great job in the past, but like any change some staff will embrace it and others either cannot or simply do not want to. She has done the honourable thing and decided to seek new challenges rather than be the pain in the ass so many staff can become when a company changes its direction for the purposes of survival and shareholder value. So while I regret a long standing loyal and hard working member of staff can no longer agree with the companies strategy, it happens. Progress cannot be halted to suit the staff.

Now shoot…..:-)

[Flightlevel]

BA is a company that competes very well, operates modern aircraft (mostly) and makes substantial profits – needed for newer aircraft, it is sad they are reducing levels of service and the management is getting to be like a cola company, it doesn’t matter the level of service or how bad it is for the pax, they know there’s another fool born every minute!

[JeffD]

Many of the crew I have spoken to recently have been very despondent at the reduction in service levels. BA has a long and proud history as a full service airline. Yet it is now making a lot of cuts. I must say these cuts only seems to directed at the economy passenger. What is difference between BA and Easyjet on a short haul flight ? Easyjet allows you to take an earlier flight on the return sector without having to jump through hoops, so they do now have an advantage. I am not sure where this is going to lead.

It a real shame that they have the monopoly at Heathrow, perhaps if there was some competition we the passengers may see benefits. BA is really an expert at getting rid of the competition, they got rid of BCal at Gatwick, BMI at Healthrow both excellent airlines offering passengers really excellent inflight service. As the current pole says “time will tell”.

[canucklad]

Again Mr. Michael, you’ve made some salient points about managing a business in today’s corporate realty….AF /LH are fine examples, yet German economic models are more long term than say French, who indulge in oooh-la-la land
To me it’s about balance and common sense.

A few things though….
Would you want to be a CEO of customer facing employees who have at best no pride, and at worst no loyalty to their employer.

And JD , you’re spot on. I’d also imagine that the BD crew and more especially the ex BCal crew’s customer ethos must really be tested with the continual replacement of the norm with either mediocrity or pay for enhancements.

Back to my point, about balance….BA just seem to be tipping the scales towards profit margin.

[icenspice]

And how sad it is that people moan and groan about BA but do nothing about it…

[nevereconomy]

icenspice – there are some that do, but BA is extremely fortunate to have a large percentage of Premium passengers who cannot do anything about it. BA is either the cheapest (no howls please – they often are) or their employer has a contract and they have no choice of carrier. Were that not the case, I doubt they would have got away with 8 across Club for so long.

[MrMichael]

@Icenspice, I do something……I buy more shares 🙂

@Canucklad, your absolutely right, loyal hardworking committed staff can make a huge difference to a business model, that is why I admire John Lewis and wish I could buy shares in it. But it is not everything, the most important thing is the right product at the right price that is attractive to the consumer while still giving you a profit.

@JeffreyDavidson, all very well banging on about the brilliant airlines of the past, they did not work then, and certainly would not work now. The aviation sector like so many sectors has had to change hugely to keep up with change and successful new entrants. Think Nokia, think Blockbuster, think Woolworths, think BMI, think Kodak, they all have one thing in common….going bust because they did not adapt.

[icenspice]

That’s very generous of you MrMichael. Don’t worry, I will pay you back in some kind of fashion ?

[FDOS_UK]

MrMichael

Do you think Peter Rachman’s business practices (which were successful) were acceptable?

Did the ends justify the means?

[Author]

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