[boxingclever]

Hey Cantona

I suppose though this means they may still strike at some stage next year

[JordanD]

Fantastic News. Well done to British Airways for taking Unite to court and showing them up to be rule breakers. Excellent news all round.

[Cantona07]

Guess they will, the press and the UK general public though should stand firm against this kind of stupid militant action, I hope BA challenge them over and over again, this kind of action is so out of date.

[BusinessTraveller]

Initial reaction from Unite:

On the ruling of the High Court today (Thursday), which has not upheld Unite the union’s ballot of more than 12,000 cabin crew members, Unite joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley said: “While we have never wanted this dispute it is a disgraceful day for democracy when a court can overrule such an overwhelming decision by employees taken in a secret ballot.

“We will of course be studying the judgement, but the fact remains that this dispute is not settled. Passing the buck to the courts to do management’s job for them was never going to be the answer.

“BA must accept that there can be no resolution except through negotiation, failing which there will inevitably be a further ballot for industrial action.

“Given the clear mood of cabin crew about management’s imposition of changes on their working lives, this means that the spectre of further disruption to the company’s operations cannot be removed. Only a negotiated agreement can do that.”

[BusinessTraveller]

And from BA:

We are delighted for our customers that the threat of a Christmas strike has been lifted by the court.

It is a decision that will be welcomed by hundreds of thousands of families in the UK and around the world.

There was never any need for a strike and we hope that Unite will take this opportunity to reflect before deciding its next steps. We believe the public would want that too.

In recent days, we believe Unite has formed a better understanding of our position and of the ways in which we could move forward.

It has also become very clear that our customers do not believe that old-style trade union militancy is relevant to our efforts to move British Airways back toward profitability. Financial success is essential to build the kind of business our customers want and provide long-term opportunities for our staff.

[Cantona07]

Did anyone else listen to Derek Simpson outside the courts?? – what a bafoon

[ndf1260]

Common sense prevails and the idiotic leadership of Unite are firmly back in their box.
This was only ever targeted at the travelling leisure public for maximum impact and disruption over Xmas. Go ahead, strike again in January where impact will be minimal as other carriers will happily fill their empty seats at a quiet time of year. Well done the High Court!!!

[GTR_Skyline]

Agreed – total baffoon…monthly union payments better given to a charity rather than Unite….very pleased for those who are travelling at Christmas…and credit to BA Management for sorting this out in Court….

[iptamenosgr]

Forgive me for saying this, but some of the posts here are disgusting!

Yes, I wasn’t happy as well that I had to change my travel plans for Xmas. Yes, everybody has had a bad experience on board BA in the past, but I’ve had some bad ones on EK, TG, LH to mention a few.

Guys, a little bit more respect to someone that gives you a glass of water, a paracetamol when you need it, or just someone who chats to you.

I think we tend to mix up very basic things. The service, the seats, the IFE aren’t things that have to do with the cabin crew. Their main role is the passengers safety. I hope we’re not too arrogant to forget this.

I’m a gold cardholder and I’ve had some of the best experiences with BA. I’ve seen some of the other Club passengers, their requests and their class…. You can easily tell who actually paid for their ticket, and who had his ticket paid.

Ba does have some really interesting, well educated people that work in their cabins. I think the cabin crew are an excellent mix of individuals.

Please don’t get me wrong. Again, I never agreed with that strike in the first place, however I think it’s out of order to put everyone in the same box.

Personally, I’ll definitely fly them again and of course I will not let this strike change my mind about the BA cabin crew. I will keep respecting them and I will never use terms such as waiters or whatever else I’ve seen in here.

P.S. How many of you remember air travel 15 years ago? This goes both for passengers and cabin crew- business class wasn’t looking the same back then, was it? And something else, try to think how adaptable any of us are to rapid changes.

[mikes747]

Nobody likes to go on strike however when a senior management team drives an idea that will seriously affect peoples working careers then an individual does have a right to make a stand. BA crew like most airline crew are hard working safety professionals that have a life outside the airline. Surely they are allowed to be well rested and have a home life as well? Bloody minded management often have to be threatend before they will negotiate seriously. Its a shame but perhaps thats a reflection of the managements style in trying to drive change and not of its employees who are often considered an unfortunate liability they have to endure.

[MarcusUK]

Good news for all those planned to travel with BA, though i understand some have bought alternatives flights already.
However, it appears in many countries that this has already created very bad worldwide press for BA, & if Unite continue & Re-ballot, then there will still be a strike, even if ity is later, unless they sit down & agree a way forwards.

Perhaps in many ways, BA is better to be closed down, then re-started, & some on here have formulated this is Walsh’s agenda. Perhaps then it can be a leaner more cost effective carrier, with the staff conditions as it wishes in the current climate. Perhaps then they can employ staff on the levels they want to, & I am sure they will find the quality of staff that rate buys! Many current BA staff would no longer work for them. Closing some of the loss making routes maybe wise, & concentrate where they do best, on the long haul profitable routes.

As it stands, the BA Pension deficit at £3.1 Billion, is more than the Share / Company Value. It is up from £1.7 Billion year ago, & would meet the conditions for the opt out for Iberia to merge with it.

Even Singapore Airlines has lost $2.1 Billion, but it is cash & asset rich, though it has nothing like this pension deficit. LH/ KLM/AF, Emirates, as all have had a different approach that enables them to avoid such crisis

[JackyLek]

Hi Everyone

Just some memory that maybe the BA crew will wake up …. remember the old Alitalia ……. The crew drive so hard with the strike making the company almost never earning any money, and in The End …. is was Ciao !
SAS Denmark Crew is on the same level, and we will see the story there too.

Sorry to say that time has change even pilot is getting less money, so If you are unhappy with your job or condition change another airline or work, Dont bring the whole company down! Is not that BA is earning money now days and the forecast is not so good neither.
– Is hard to teach a old dog new tricks ! BA crew dont let people compare you guys with this! Act – pull you guys together and work with the company come with solution that you all could live with.

[Delsurrey]

BA’s press web site has listed the full pay scales for cabin crew which is a bit of an eye opener. One wonders why Unite are not calling for equal pay across the airline. I cannot quite see the logic in the Crew Manager on a Boeing 777 out of LGW doing much more than the CSD on a 777 out of LHR. I wonder why these numbers have not been picked up by the media?
Basic pay Allowances Total earnings
Heathrow longhaul
CSD £38,006 £18,319 £56,325
Purser £32,140 £17,670 £49,810
Main crew £18,693 £16,287 £34,980

Heathrow shorthaul
CSD £38,928 £13,075 £52,003
Purser £26,149 £12,800 £38,949
Main crew £13,415 £12,358 £25,773

Gatwick
Crew manager £20,275 £7,147 £27,422
Purser £16,631 £7,147 £23,778
Main crew £11,176 £7,147 £18,323

Annual leave is 31-37 days for Heathrow shorthaul crew and 30-36 days for longhaul. For Gatwick crew, it is 28 days.

Cabin crew allowances (from Heathrow, October 2009)

Allowances and duration of trip vary by route. For example, a crew member working Heathrow-Tokyo-Heathrow will receive allowances of £935 for the four-day trip. A six-day return to Shanghai pays £866, five days to Hong Kong £798 and five days to Rio £731. These allowances exclude hotel costs.

[beethoven]

I too really want BA to survive. I am British but live in Paris. We had booked our Grandmother & two Aunts (they too are British and wanted to fly BA) to come from the USA for Xmas. As the strike threat progressed we cancelled the tickets and booked them first class on a US carrier. I wonder how much of a loss the threatened strike cost BA ? The cabin crew must not strike under any circimstances. They are very highly paid. I am sure there are others only too willing to step into their shoes. They must be realistic and study the economics of the times .

[GTR_Skyline]

JackyLek – I fully agree with your comments.

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