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[ScottWilson]

If there are BA cabin crew who think they can do better elsewhere then I’d have thought they’d leave rather than stay behind and strike.

History has seen many British industries fold as unions demanded the right to not change according to market conditions, so the market moved, businesses went elsewhere. One need only look at the Lufthansa empire and the Air France/KLM group to see how both are positioning themselves to face the continued pressure from LCCs on the one hand, lower cost base foreign competitors from Asia and the Middle East.

One of BA’s (and other European full service airlines’) cash cows has largely evaporated in the form of Club Europe, as short haul business class retreats to a niche rather than a core of business travel. As Open Skies moves ever forward, the temptation for a BA/AA/IB carrier will be to notice how many BA routes are cheaper served by the other partners.

Meanwhile, the band of Trotskyites will still think they are waging a class war, forgetting that the 20th century ended some time ago.

[VintageKrug]

We should have lunch sometime, ScottWilson 😉

More evidence the strike is not going to happen:

– 6000 staff have volunteered to “Back BA”

– In the event of a strike LGW longhaul would operate to 100%, shorthaul 50%

– The plans are more sketchy for LHR with a promise to keep all 777s operating (more than half the fleet)

– BA have enough volunteers to run the 777 fleet throughout a strike

– BA have agreements in place with other airlines for rerouting

– 70% of LGW staff have agreed to work during a strike

– There are agrrements for 23 wet lease aircraft to be used during a strike

[Travellator]

Wish I had your confidence VK !

I think given adamant stance of Unite there will be some action even though BA may run some flights with volunteers etc.

I believe that a promise not to strike at Easter may still be devastating if they strike before that say on 30/31 March which would have a huge knock on effect.

Similarly a strike on 7/8 April would leave thousands stranded after the holiday.

Still think my visit to the Concorde room and subsequent Asian travel is in jeopardy along with all other BA travellers on or around those dates.

[VintageKrug]

Well, I’m backing BA and keeping my longhaul 777 operated flights with them; they will re-accommodate me if by some rare occurrence my flight is not crewed by staff who see the writing on the wall..

[Travellator]

Me and my families loyalty has earned us 2 BA miles trips in F to HKG but on 747. Work out the miles and rate the loyalty.

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[VintageKrug]

It is no smokescreen.

The figures I posted are accurate, not made up.

You are parrotting the very personal attacks on WW which the Union encourages. No alternative CEO would act differently from the way he has done. None.

The Bollinger Grande Annee and Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque are satisfactory First champagnes in a world where very few people actually know what they are drinking anyway. Many have to make cutbacks and especially those in premium cabins understand that.

The fact is, it is corporate travel and expense polices which largely dictate revenues for BA; they have been slashed and I mean SLASHED. Intra-Europe business cabins are at great risk, not because WW wants to have done with them, but because your core business passengers are often no longer permitted to purchase them.

If you look at the figures, BA has been and will once again become a highly profitable business in a very high risk industry. Ultimately, as a passenger and a shareholder (and was I crew, I would want the same thing) I want the airline to be PROFITABLE above all else; that permits the financial flexibility to keep everyone happy.

BA is in an industry more internationalised than most, and its cost structure it way out of kilter with those other operators; that hampers its ability to invest in its products and services, and the Union has done more than most workers’ groups to drive down revenues, diminish the service offering, and endanger its own members’ livelihoods.

Your Union is membership currently trying to negotiate the removal of pre-flight champagne in Club World as part of a face saving deal….and in the same breath you talk of WW being hell-bent on making BA become like Ryanair. WAKE UP! It is the Union itself which is causing these service diminutions NOT management.

It’s fair to say that while many were initially sympathetic to BA Cabin Crew, the more we learn about their Union and working practices, the more we see the truth of the situation.

You only have to see the excerpts from the thread “the truth about BASSA” to understand that these Union practices are true, and direct from the horses mouth.

[austline]

Well said VK. The Lanson Noble One isn’t too bad either.

Qantas has gone through a similar situation as BA with it’s CC; highly unionised, to his credit Geoff Dixon took them on and had some wins.

They now have UK based crew, Aust based long haul and short haul crews [both unionised] and A380 CC- all employed by a seperate company ACA, which is now being also used to employ all new cabin crew on all aircraft types on less generous packages.

Qantas had to change quickly as it was competing against Asian and ME carriers with much lower cost bases.

Have these changes had an adverse effect on the in flight service? No, in fact it has improved. The UK crew are young and enthusiastic. On a recent flight from MEL/HKG/LHR we had an Aust based crew to HKG – okay service and UK based crew from HKG. Working upstairs in J was an Aust and a Swede CC, all on UK inferior contracts, according to the Aust cabin crew union, and they loved the job, the service was great, the same on the A380 LAX/MEL.

Qantas today has it’s problems like most legacy carriers, but they are making the hard and right decisions and seeing the rewards.None of these changes have had any adverse effect on customer service?

They are even pouring Tattinger Comtes in First Class which is on a par with Krug in my book!

On a recent flight from ABV/LHR a BA CC member said to me that WW was trying to destroy the union and in turn would destroy the airline. He also said that WW wanted to take them down the QF path but that they would never accept it. Time will tell.

[continentalclub]

Received by email a moment ago:

A message from CEO, Willie Walsh

I wanted to update you on what we propose to do in the event that a strike does go ahead.

Unite, the union that represents our BA cabin crew, has not as yet announced any strike dates.

It must tell us by 15 March whether a strike will happen and it cannot go on strike without first giving us seven days notice of the first day.

In the meantime we continue to have talks with Unite and we want to resolve the issues between us.

I want to reassure you that a strike will not ground British Airways. We have had nearly 6,000 volunteers in total to support our flying programme, including nearly 1,000 who have trained as cabin crew and the number is growing.

We have been putting plans into place and although we cannot announce the precise schedule we will operate until we know for sure what Unite would do, I can tell you what our plans are.

We will operate all our flights from London City airport, including long-haul services to New York.

We will operate all our long-haul schedule at London Gatwick, and about half of our short-haul schedule.

At London Heathrow, we will operate a substantial proportion of our long-haul programme and a good number of short-haul flights too, assisted by chartered aircraft with crews from a number of UK and European-based airlines. We have at least 23 aircraft available to us over an extended period.

All BA CityFlyer, codeshare and franchise flights will continue to operate as normal.

We have also arranged to secure seats from other carriers, so thousands more of you can reach your chosen destinations.

At this stage our plans do not include crew at London Heathrow who may choose to work normally. More than 4,000 of all crew did not vote for strike action.

I would like to thank you for standing by us in recent weeks. Despite all the uncertainty Unite has created since it announced its ballot in January, passenger numbers for February were actually higher than a year ago, and our premium traffic rose for the first time in 18 months.

[VintageKrug]

Do my figures still “astound you”, geohoveuk?

While individual crew deserve our support, Unite/BASSA/Amicus does not.

[First-Pax]

To: geohoveuk – I hope you and your colleagues (and Unite) read and digest VintageKrug’s comments instead of burying your heads in the sand.

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[First-Pax]

You haven’t answered VK’s question geohoveuk… and from what you say, it sounds as if you are being misinformed by your ‘friends’ at BA.

Perhaps it would be a good idea if you took the trouble to appraise yourself of the facts.

I suggest that the relationship between some employees (crew) and management at BA is poor because crew are continuing to stamp their feet like spoilt children who have lost an argument!

[Petericia]

I also agree with you BA tis the best service

[Author]

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