[Tete_de_cuvee]

Yes Pinot it is a pity VK began using this forum as his personal soap-box / playground nearly 4 years ago. If that had been nipped in the bud all the subsequent post and counter would not have occurred. VK’s desire to bring it all into the public forum has actually had the adverse impact to the one he initially sought.

Regardless, am confident that BASSA will be representing the majority of Cabin Crew long after Walsh departs – having tanked shareholder value.
As the MF crew are seeking union protection one wonders if BASSA will be able to accommodate them, maybe under a different branch mechanism. One day BA will learn how to manage people with respect.

[VintageKrug]

Ishmael/Henkel/Tete you can’t blame me for your multiple identity forum bombing.

Thankfully the lies you spun have found you out.

I too hope that British Airways crew – whichever fleet they may be on – find transparent, effective, business-minded representation which has the capacity to represent all those who pay its subs, not just the few. It’s important that people in generally lower paid cyclical industries have proper representation.

That has always been my position, if you check back of my post history. Couldn’t be further from a “union-hater”.

[HonestCrew]

..and if VK’s personal and pointless
http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/The-Truth-About-BASSA
(with the most ridiculous opening to a ‘forum’ thread I have ever seen)
could also be put to bed that would be great!
A classic example of using a forum for all the wrong reasons.

Now, breakfast buffet is calling. Debate gives me a healthy appetite.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

VK – in your absence this forum was a far more pleasant place. Hope you will repeat your absence again soon. The last refuge of a loser is not to be wrong – 4 years of beating the same tedious drum VK, and all you have managed to do is bring BA into disrepute, no one is taken in by your bleating anymore.

[VintageKrug]

BASSA playbook 101:

1. Deny the facts posted are real.

2. When confronted with referenced evidence, often presented unadulterated from their own side, attack the poster

3. Rinse, repeat.

It’s tiring, your argument isn’t valid, you’re plainly very closely associated with BASSA – your posts in multiple threads and under various handles are almost solely related to that issue, and always have been – and shouldn’t be airing your views like this, insulting contributors here and dragging up irrelevant threads day in day out long after the strike was lost.

No-one is interested in your outdated 1970s perspectives.

It’s cluttering up the forum, and no-one here wants to read it.

To suggest it’s me perpetuating this dull, squalid and deleterious discussion is yet more doublespeak.

I hadn’t posted in the Truth About BASSA thread on over 7 months, since the end of the strike.

In over seven pages of this thread, I’ve only posted three times until it was resurrected this week.

I re-iterate I have no connection with BA whatsoever, including “being close to a senior party within the management team” as alleged below.

It’s really up to other contributors to this forum to redress the balance; either we let ourselves be harassed by these single agenda, BASSA-affiliated, multiple identity handles or we can ignore whenever they posts, not bump those mendacious threads and carry on posting on topics of interest to the Business Traveller community. It’s very much up to us.

[MartynSinclair]

T d c

Whist your views are welcome, my views are too. In my early days on the forum I too felt that this very pro BA poster was BA related, despite his constant denial.

So, how many handles you are all using T d c. I openly support Vintage Krug, his postings (except for the Bassa thread) and hope others will agree.

I followed the Sunday Times when an article they wrote tried to imply he was a TV personality in “gear”. Through a direct communication to BT, I asked Tom to send an apology to VintageKrug, because I realised that in cyberspace it does not matter who he (and yes that much has been confirmed) is. Whether he is high profile and known individual, MP, Sportsman, TV Personality, Sir Richard, Willie, David Beckham, even our dear Becky Boop, or just a plain Jane from suburbia, the only thing that matters is he contributes in an extremely useful manner to the Forum and quite frankly, where he gets his info from, I couldnt care two hoots. The Forum is British based, so it is natural, British products and services are highlighted. I hope that Rich using AA, will eventually change to BA and Binman will one day see the light and praise BA!!

I have on several occasions suggested that a Virgin Atlantic oppo joins the Forum to promote that airline to give some balance.

One poster compared VK’s postings to phone hacking – not sure of the connection, but seriously, what on earth is wrong with promoting a product – there are several of us who financially benefited from his postings and I hope they continue for many years. This Forum would suffer, if he was to disappear.

If you don’t want to read his postings, then don’t open them.

I was recently asked why I introduced the Christopher Tappin affair; someone said this is no place for political rhetoric. If that was ‘Political rhetoric’, the Bassa thread certainly goes beyond Political rhetoric and reads more like the minutes of a union meeting. Get rid of the thread!

DoS’s thread about the Gatwick incident was probably the most mature thread for many months – it grew quickly and with the extremes of BB, Nigel and Ian – it became a very interesting and constructive discussion.

It is a real shame that BT have decided to investigate changing this style of this Forum because for 90% of the time it works very well.

Thread drift over.

[ThePole]

Hi Martyn

In a number of ways, I agree with your sentiments. Having only come across this forum recently I have obviously not had the time to digest every thread. There are times admittedly when Vintage Krug, from my minimal reading, has been extremely informative, on several issues, which is a boon for any potential BA customers.

Long may that side of his contributions continue.

While there is doubtless, fault on both sides, it is the vitriolic hate regarding the staff, and a union, which BA recognises, that stand out like a sore thumb and do him no favours. I believe the employee management relationship is key to operating a successful operation and this should be led from above. Mr Krug, if he is an employee of standing, which due to his in depth knowledge would indicate so, or at least party to a very cosy relationship with some senior parties within the organisation, does himself and the company no justice with his comments. I would expect my managers to rise above such which we encourage through a strong CSR policy and I hope contemporary management style.

The judgement from the court was an eye-opener and revealed what I believe to be, at least, some misunderstanding of policy or, on the other hand a blatant disregard and wantoness by some managers to please their seniors. I would not tolerate, nor condone, this type of behaviour from my own staff and I feel, (as an old BA shareholder, now IAG), somewhat let down. I have noticed the company’s decline through the ranks from being a top employer and desired company to work for, to not even being mentioned in the latest Times 100 list for best employer.

LIke the Iraq war where many of us were led to believe all of the hyperbole spouted by both government and their backers in the press, regarding such issues as WMD and the strength of armies, it was not until the cessation of hostilities that the real truth, became apparent. I believe that this may be the case in this dispute with my friends telling me there are more issues regarding the dispute, set to be revealed. Telling times ahead maybe?

Mr Krug, continues to launch attacks against the very people who could help restore the company to its once proud position, along with good leadership and working relations. To continually stir up the hornets nest and raise hackles, of such like t_d_c who will almost undoubtably be drawing attention to this within the BASSA ranks, serves only to prolong the potential pain for us, the paying customers, should further strikes or action be considered.

Please Mr Krug continue with the informative gems that us “Business Travellers” are interested in, but lay your personal vendetta to rest. If you can cause me to feel this way in such a short time, imagine how it must feel for those who have endured your postings over a much longer period. For every action there is a reaction and you will only cause a continuance of these petty arguments on a public forum, and cause others like myself to ponder.

[MartynSinclair]

ThePole

Good of you to show such support for the poster.

But be a good lad and remove paragraphs 2 – 5 to a more appropriate thread.

Good man

Martyn

[stgeorge]

I have just found Business Traveller website. I cannot believe that it is used as a shouting match area for BA cabin staff to air their vitreolic views.

I pay the salaries of BA cabin crew. I have just used BA for 4 First class flights. Every one of them was quite dreadful. Derelict aircraft and crew working in First who obviously dislike passengers, do as little as possible and get the service over as quickly as possible so that they can get to their rest area. The arrogance of many BA crew is appalling. After all, they are no better qualified than a junior crew member at Ryanair

When BA crew realise how important all passengers are for their livelihoods and make my journey more pleasant then I will listen to their arguments. I dont want to read them on Business Traveller.

[Henkel.Trocken]

Well stgeorge it’s marvellous that you’ve found our happy little community and while the main purpose of it is not a communications area for BA crew there are some very helpful BA crew who post good tips and advice here.

I’m no advocate of BA service particularly in F but if you had four flights in F all with awful service perhaps you should look to yourself and wonder what you were doing that caused the crew to treat you they way they did. Perhaps you adopted the tone you’ve used here?

As a new member of the forum, might I suggest that you are free to read things or not before you start telling us all what you want to read here?

[BeckyBoop]

Tête_de_cuvée i actually quite like you because you do point out there is always two sides to the thread. Even with your fetish for WW (which is just weird). But you do let use know about industrial action in also other countries like in Frankfurt which came in handy for a few of us. But it is strange you only talk about air stuff and not rail related like the London Underground who kick up a bigger fuss. I would like to here more about your travel experiences, like where you go and your prefered method and airline if any , you even recomended a good hotel in Miami recently which i was surprised about xx

[Tete_de_cuvee]

BA pilots are apparently being encouraged to interact with passengers. However the first officer representing BA, it’s Beyond the Flight Deck team and BALPA, coincidently appears to be the pilot who received a warning from BA for offensive remarks which a recent court hearing noted were “clearly unacceptable to most reasonable standards”. I hope if he is one and the same, he can show professionalism this time and behaves himself. Though why BA would have such a hot head fronting its Beyond the Flight Deck initiative is a recipe for another poor judgement call by BA.

Can anyone from inside BA confirm if the “Derek Suckling from BA’s beyond the flight deck team and BALPA, and the “Mr Suckling” reported in the recent employment tribunal, which BA lost on a unanimous decision, are one and the same?

http://blog.apex.aero/inflight-services-2/british-airways-flight-deck/

… from the reported findings …..
We have referred in paragraph 26.1 above to the post made by Mr Suckling on an open pilots’ forum. We know that Mr Holley’s complaint about Mr Suckling was referred to the “Leiden Unit”. We know that the result was that Mr Suckling was given an informal written warning. To have received that warning someone must have concluded that an allegation under EG102 was well founded. That is how the “Leiden Matrix” says it works. Looking across the “Category” columns, Mr Suckling can only be a “Contributor”. Looking down that column we would have said a bystander would have seen Mr Suckling’s post as ticking all the boxes. The post directly said “something unpleasant or offensive to about another person or group”, Mr Suckling (as the author of the post) participated in the incident, his language was “clearly unacceptable to most reasonable standards”, Addleshaw Goddard do not report remorse as a reason for a lenient sanction, Mr Suckling held an “on-board” position and Addleshaw Goddard report no particular co-operation by Mr Suckling to mitigate matters. The “Leiden Matrix” does stress that “each case be heard on its merits” and that a decision may not fit within the matrix, but otherwise seems to countenance nothing but dismissal as the sanction for Mr Suckling. Certainly the least penalty appears to be a final written warning.

[JohnPhelanAustralia]

Sigh.

We don’t care – the vast majority of us are sick of all the industrial bleating.

[pomerol]

JohnPhelanAustralia

Very well said, I think many of us are sick and tired, of the vitriolic rantings by the usual suspects, I always thought this forum was for the discussion, of matters relatling to Business Travel.

I have not posted much at all over the last 12 month’s, partly because I lost my wife in May of last year, and also what I see as the
deteriation of the forum, due to all the above.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

pomerol

We don’t know each other, but I’d like to express my deepest sympathy for your loss and hope to see more of you on the forum, when you are able to post.

As to the sentiments expressed by John Phelan and you, I agree completely.

I can understand why some BA crew respond, after all it is their livelihood that is being discussed, but why are they being provoked?

Best just to let this float away downstream and let them get on with their jobs.

[Author]

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