[DisgustedofSwieqi]

londonlad

Although I don’t resent the rewards you mention for long serice, they could represent a benefit in kind arising from employment by the airline, whereas a business traveller earns the points from the airline by taking flights and is not employed by them.

Just as an airline employee may wish for a busines traveller to be taxed on benefits from the employer, then the reverse is logical and fair thinking.

[FlyingChinaman]

I for one would very much welcome being greeted and spoken to by pilots IN THEIR UNIFORMS* in the lounge as it is a super powerful marketing tools! I am sure all travellers would enjoy this move and also it shows the airline company cares about their most commercial important customers.

Afterall we entrust our valuable life to these guys (some gals)!

* There is something about men behind uniforms! Pilots in plain cloths do not have the same effects. Who know they might be getting all the girls!!!!

[BeckyBoop]

Bruce i didnt realise guys in uniform did for you too!!! …lol :o) xxx

[FlyingChinaman]

I said they (the pilots) might get all the GIRLS!! Not guys!!!

[BeckyBoop]

“* There is something about men behind uniforms! Pilots in plain cloths do not have the same effects. ”

– Just teasing… lol 😉 xxx

[londonlad]

This seems to have become more of a philosophical debate into the negative aspects of human nature. Cabin Crew not wanting Flight Crew to benefit if they don’t also. Customers not wanting staff to travel in premium cabins.

Well, that’s just life. All jobs have perks and benefits. Pilots have different skills and responsibilities to cabin crew, and benefit accordingly. If you are lucky enough to travel on business in Club, lucky you, but many would argue that is a perk of the job.

We can’t all be equal, my mate works for HSBC and benefits from a employee only interest rate on his mortgage that will save him 10’s of thousands over the next 25 years. It’s not available to me. FAIR? Another mate is a record producer and can get VIP tickets to sold out concerts, I can’t despite being willing to pay. FAIR?

So let’s stop looking over the fence at what others may or may not have. IMO BA has always handled it’s staff travel in a very responsible and discrete manner.

[FlyingChinaman]

BeckyB: I have seen time and again the effect of a uniformed man on many of my female friiends!

You may be immuned!

[MartynSinclair]

londonlad – your mate at HSBC will of course be contributing to HMRC for this benefit, like most other employees who receive perks of the job.

Now, lets see how much BA employees contribute to HMRC for benefits in kind or are they exempt?

[londonlad]

As far as I know, BA pays the employee share of the benefit tax on the employees behalf.

It would appear to be the way the industry works. Virgin have a far more generous staff travel system, with far more access to the premium cabins, and they don’t personally pay any tax either.

Perhaps airlines should give their employees airmiles for each trip they operate. After all it’s a loyalty reward. Then everyone can fight it out on an equal basis for redemption tickets.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

“If you are lucky enough to travel on business in Club, lucky you, but many would argue that is a perk of the job. “

Try telling me that, face to face, after I have got off the red eye in Riyadh, am about to take a shower and then go to work.

Better not, as I don’t want to be locked in a desert slammer for throwing you through the nearest wall 😉

[JordanD]

Martyn, with the greatest respect, you have absolutely no idea what the position of BA’s employee-employer tax arrangement is. Nor (and do tell me if I’m wrong), do you know if BA and HMRC have come to an arrangement in how certain non-contractual “perks” are accounted for.

I’m not sure why you’re continually going on about the tax effect of what the BA individuals are getting, but I’m not sure how that directly contributes to our flying experience …

[MartynSinclair]

Seat availability on certain long haul routes!

[londonlad]

Martyn

Lets deal with some facts. BA employees may have certain tickets that have a Club or First entitlement. However, this is NEVER at the expense of a revenue or redemption passenger!!

All staff bookings are made in World Traveller. Only if seats are available and they are entitled will they be upgraded. These seats are NEVER guaranteed and if someone should book a few hours before, the revenue passenger will get the seats and they will be downgraded again. If the flight is full, they will be left behind.

So staff cannot affect seat availability. They will only ever sit in seats that would have gone empty.

[FlyingChinaman]

I can personally confirm londonlad is correct about employees will ONLY occupy a seat IF there is no revenue or redemption passenger utlizing it.

I know so as I once sat down and talked to a next seat passenger (a pilot’s wife) in business class and after 5 minutes this lady was asked by a cabin crew to move to economy as there was a sudden fare paying passenger taking up the seat!!

[Binman62]

Londonlad…sorry non revenue tickets do on rare occasions trump even revenue paying passengers. There is a strict order of on load and offload and the code that is assigned to tickets dictates this. 01 -06 on load priority are not off loadable. They are assigned to CEO and some other senior staff but they are used for personal travel with their families and as such will impact on the availability of redemption bookings in particular.
The on load codes range from 01 to 60 and each for a specific reason. After this code there is a second and this determines the cabin to which the staff member is entitled and the order in which they are assigned. Thus 13/J41 is entitled to a J seat if available but only if no one has a cabin code of less than J41. 54A/M47 is a standby passenger only entitled to WT. I provide this detail only to show that non staff are well aware of the benefits and how it works both in theory and in reality.
Positioning flight crew are guaranteed a minimum of J class and commercial full fare ticket holders will be downgraded to accommodate. This is fact and it happens. Indeed I have witnessed passengers being offloaded from M class to allow this and compensation paid to other downgraded. The crew then position to the chosen point at then have the same rest periods as if they had worked.
The tax agreement with HMRC means that BA pays the P11D for all staff tickets issued. This is due to the complexity of the offer given that personal travel is booked in M but may travel in F or J. It should also be noted that whilst staff do pay taxes fees and charges they do so only at the M class level and not the higher rate which should be the case for travel in WT= or higher. They do not pay the fuel surcharge!
I have no gripe with either staff access to tickets the payment of taxes or the cabin they travel in but the changes that allowed unfettered access to J from 2009; combined with the appalling service over the last 2 years, the huge hikes in fares and fuel surcharges as well as the cutting of redemption opportunities and the removal of benefits shows a organisation that has not got customers at the heart of everything that it does.
It would be best Londonlad and others, if you focused on making mine and every one else’s next flights fabulous, rather than trying to defend the perks of the job you keep through our loyalty.

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