BA Asks crew to work for a month for nothing

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    MarcusUK
    Participant

    Willie Walsh will be doing voluntary work next month by sacrificing his “One month salary of £61,000(!!!)”, & is asking BA crew & other staff to do the same!

    Not quite the same is it, some crews earning £15,000 a yr with bills to pay!
    Current climate or not, perhaps the mis-management of BA, Walsh should sacrifice his own job completely & leave, saving a lot more!
    Having cut back on staff, made redundancies, morale at BA appears through the floor yet again, a regular achievement for BA over the last 10 yrs.

    Tough times they are, But the state of the Airline has been one mess after another, badly run, personnel management dire…etc.

    Not that i fly BA now, but know others that do, n they chat to crews.
    Perhaps BA would be better going under after all…other Airlines would take up services & they would be quickly forgotten.


    Airpocket
    Participant

    Mark, any second now VintageKrug should be piping up and spewing forth some spin about how great BA are.
    BA’s stock price is heading towards £1.30.However, perhaps the most telling indictment of the airline is the fact that FAA, the exchange-traded fund that tracks the airline industry, hardly has any shares in BA!Infact, it has more shares in South West!
    Maybe SQ should just step up and buy BA?


    wishee71
    Participant

    I have long suspected Vintagekrug IS Willie Walsh! Badly managed business and frankly if they went bust someone would pick it up and they can’t really do any worse. The only way would be up. I have stopped using them where possible, as I have mentioned in posts before, they are not what they or Vintage say they are cracked up to be and speaking to fellow travellers the feeling is widespread.


    Airpocket
    Participant

    Wishee, as bad as BA are, I don’t think they’re anywhere near as bad as VS!Have you seen some of the reviews VS picks up on Skytrax?
    I think starting flights to the Maldives in the middle of a horrid recession is inexplicable.I wonder what other faux pas BA have in store.
    For what its worth, if BA liberalised their frequent flyer program and awarded points/miles across the board to all kinds of tickets, as opposed to just the more expensive/full-fare ones, then they might attract some passengers.Otherwise, I don’t think they’ve got a hope, especially with oil hovering around $70-a-barrel.


    wishee71
    Participant

    Agree with the frequent flyer observation, not that it would save the business. As for VS, I can only speak as I find and never been let down, which I cannot say for BA. If as you suggest SQ make an approach that would have me back in a flash as they are a quality outfit and route network would be fantastic.


    Airpocket
    Participant

    Talking of alliances & mergers, isn’t it interesting that even Iberia, hardly a great airline itself, is reluctant to merge with BA!
    Personally, I don’t think SQ would be daft enough to want to go anywhere near BA, based solely on BA’s pension deficit.What new owner would want to take on that sort of liability!
    As far as inflight service goes, I’d chose BA over VS, ten times out of ten.Lets hope BA get their act together.I can’t bear the thought of having to use VS to fly long-haul out of the UK!


    MarcusUK
    Participant

    MMM, yes i have not travelled with BA for some 10 yrs after bad experiences back then, my loyalty was switched to KLM.
    I seriously have a calm, efficient relaxing time when i am on KLM, every 2 weeks or so mainly through Europe, & Via AMS.
    Their lounges are impeccable, especially the new SkyTeam Lounge in T4, FULL service of meals, a rarety in any Lounge of any Airline at LHR!
    They also have a great new fleet of the 737-8/900’s in Europe, great motivated crew, as they look after them well, flexible working hours (Even a few days a month if you wish to work for them, i know some staff).

    Unlike BA, KLM crew remain motivated, Obviously proud to work for them, a great reputation in Northern & Southern EU for transfer custom, & they are simply superb.
    As a Director of teams & Change management in healthcare, you clearly see the face of the Company on its employees.
    BA is in ITU as far as that’s concerned!!!

    (Pleased that AF retained the KLM Brand, as it is poles apart..maybe AF will go down next ,with their reputation in tatters at the mo…?)


    MarcusUK
    Participant

    Link this with the “Designs ” for BA to launch the A319 from LCY to NYC!
    Prozac meal options, Voluntary work to aid yr flying time, & they are as a flat as the recline on the seats they are promoting.
    Like the A319 taking off from LCY, it will be a short run..if they make it at all!!

    U may publish these remarks, & Donate the 10,000 miles reqard to the Food for crew Program.
    First time an airline will have to launch a donation envelope, for the crew to buy some dinner & accomodation, that isn’t destined for the Third World.
    (No i have no allignments with BA, but i easily feel & see they are destroying whats left of a once good flag carrier).


    Bunnahabhain
    Participant

    If it’s a A319 taking off from LCY Mark then I’d be checking that the life jacket is actually under the seat as they say!

    Size does matter when it comes to STOL airports – so subtract 1…


    MarcusUK
    Participant

    A318 sorry…


    theworldtraveller
    Participant

    I think the point here is that the BA staff do not have to work for nothing if they don’t want to, its just one of the options that they can do if they want to help the airline out…. I have found BA to now be equal in price to many of the low cost guys and head and shoulders better than VS when things go wrong – they are not perfect of course, but who is


    dutchyankee
    Participant

    I am amazed by what I am reading from Mark. Scoring KLM ahead of BA, have you gone mental? Scoring KLM ahead of PIA or Iran Air would still be a push. Dour, old, sullen crews, a pathetic attempt at a business class product, horrendous lounges the world over, especially at their home base, food a disgrace. One has to wonder which ‘KLM’ you have travelled on. Living in Belgium and the Netherlands and having had to travel on KLM, and the now happily defunct SABENA, I have long chosen to go out of my way to travel exclusively (as much as possible) on BA. While not perfect all the time, the service, crew, and overall quality of products are far superior to any other airline in Europe. It is easy to slag BA off when compared to SQ or Emirates, as you can with every European or American carrier, but don’t be so ignorant to put BA anywhere near the piss poor level of KLM. BA sets the standard that other airlines want to aspire to, accept KLM of course as they are still aspiring to reach the standard of Sudan Airways, dont want to walk before they can crawl mind. Ridiculous. As for the A318 to/from LCY, I am looking forward to trying it. To the guy about the Route to the Maldives ‘during these times’ you should check first what kind of fares and loads those carriers flying into Male are charging before commenting. Great decision by BA, and super destiantion for Exec Members Mileage! BA is suffering now as all quality airlines who rely on Business Travellers are, but will rebound and be better than ever I am sure, and as long as they are around I would rather board their planes than ever setting foot again on KLM.


    travelleryogi
    Participant

    Ok.. this whole thing is overcooked by the media. Every industry has sufferred because of recession, and aviation industry in not immune to this global phenomenon.

    It is a very unfortunate situation that the media wants to sensationalize the whole development. Media has never thought what effects this will have on the people…. its employees, passengers, and suppliers linked with British Airways. Media was never responsible in the past nor it will be in the future.

    Lets put things in the right order. The first point is, BA management is asking its employees either to take unpaid leave or sacrifice salary for a month. It is not compulsory… it is purely voluntary.

    We need to appreciate their honesty and openness. Thank god they are not manipulating their account books the way other companies do.

    As far as products and services are concerned… BA is light years ahead of competition. Terminal 5, BA’s home in London Heathrow is a jewel in their crown.


    Metmanmart
    Participant

    I don’t think many will take too kindly to this..Would you..I certainly wouldn’t..Maybe if they took action against the BA managers who through the “fuel price fixing fiasco” cost the company hundreds of millions in fines they wouldn’t have such a big debt…Maybe they could ask Branson to cough up some money..After all Virgin got away with blue murder and should have been fined as much as BA..Anyway I
    know what I would do if was asked to give up my salary..I rest my case

    ps..I still put BA miles ahead of other carriers and will still fly with them..

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